Gridlock: Global car fleet tipped to double to 2 billion

BP reckons oil will still be providing 85 per cent of transport fuel despite the growing popularity of greener vehicles. Picture NZME

The number of cars on roads around the world is set to double to 2 billion by 2040 as the global economy grows, according to predictions by BP.

The oil titan believes about 300 million of those vehicles will be electric, compared to 3 million today. But the company reckons oil will still be providing 85 per cent of transport fuel despite the growing popularity of greener vehicles.

In its benchmark annual Energy Outlook published this week, BP believes overall oil demand will continue to grow, boosted by demand for air conditioning and plastics manufacturing, but will peak in the late 2030s.

BP chief economist Spencer Dale said: "The suggestion that rapid growth in electric cars will cause oil demand to collapse just isn't supported by the basic numbers, even with really rapid growth."

"Even in the scenario where we see a ban on combustion engines and very high efficiency standards, oil demand is still higher in 2040 than it is today."

However, Dale noted tougher restrictions on use of plastic such as shopping bags and packaging could dent oil demand by as much as 2 million barrels per day.

Britain's electric car sector is being given a boost by BP and Nissan who have separately announced new projects to advance technology using battery-powered vehicles.

BP has revealed a US$5m ($6.8m) investment in US company FreeWire, which makes mobile fast charging units for electric vehicles.

BP will run a research programme with the fast chargers being installed on forecourts in the UK and Europe this year as demand for electric cars grows.

Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of BP Downstream, said the oil business was "committed to remaining the fuel retailer of choice into the future".

FreeWire's "Mobi" mobile chargers can be moved easily and cheaply to sites where there is the greatest demand from electric vehicles.

Japanese car giant Nissan also announced a tie-up with the UK Government to develop "electric vehicle-to-grid" systems.

Nissan will lead the £9.8m programme to investigate how electric vehicles can feed into the power grid to make it more resilient and better capture energy generated from renewable sources.

When electric cars are plugged in for charging their batteries can be used to store power from sources such as solar or wind, which otherwise might not be used.

The £9.8m project - which is being funded by industry and Government - aims to create a network of 1,000 vehicle-to-grid demonstrators. The chargers will be controlled by an aggregator and data will be collected to understand how the system could be used both for charging vehicles and providing back-up to the national grid.

Francisco Carranza, energy director at Nissan Europe, said: "Electric vehicles are not just transforming the way we drive, but also the way we live.

"Our electric vehicles can be plugged into the grid and support the transmission and distribution companies in making the UK grid more sustainable and more stable."

- Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph UK