EVs are the Intermediary, Hydrogen is the Future of Car Fuel 

Giles Lister is the Head of Utilities at Bruton Knowles. Joining Bruton Knowles in 2025 with over 30 years of experience across the electricity, water, gas and renewables sectors, Giles has led major infrastructure projects from inception to delivery. He specialises in strategic land acquisition, statutory rights and multi-disciplinary coordination. Giles has advised a range of high-profile clients including National Grid, UK Power Networks, Southern Water, RWE and the Environment Agency, and plays a key role in shaping the business’s long-term utilities and infrastructure strategy as well as mentoring the next generation of professionals. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about where we’re heading with transport in the UK, and more importantly, how we’re going to get there. We talk endlessly about “net zero” and phasing out petrol and diesel, and we often ask the question of what will replace them. But I also have huge questions about how practical the replacement of those fuels is in the real world. 

Right now, electric vehicles are clearly leading the charge, pardon the pun. They’re visible and supported by a growing public charging network. As of early 2026, there are now more than 1.88 million fully electric cars on UK roads, accounting for around 5.5% of the total car numbers. 

That’s a significant jump from just a few years ago, at the end of 2022, there were roughly 664,000 EVs, or about 2% of all cars. In other words, the number of fully electric vehicles has nearly tripled in a relatively short space of time. 

Government figures from last March showed there were more than 75,000 public chargers available across the UK. That is real progress, and it helps explain why EVs have gained traction so quickly, but it’s still not where it needs to be in my opinion. 

For many drivers, especially those making longer journeys or without easy access to home charging, the infrastructure still does not feel sufficient. And beyond the number of chargers themselves, there is also the wider concern about whether the grid will be able to cope with rising demand as more motorists make the switch. 

The trend is clear: more drivers are moving towards electric, and the market is shifting with them. 

That matters more than we sometimes admit. Because, when many people think about switching from petrol or diesel, their first concern is not environmental. It is practical. How far will it get me? What happens when I run out? How long will it take to get going again? If those questions are not answered confidently, adoption slows down, no matter how good the technology is on paper. 

And this is where hydrogen comes into play. There’s a growing sense, one I share, that hydrogen could ultimately be the endgame. It offers fast refuelling, longer range, and a driving experience much closer to what we are used to today. 

For heavy goods vehicles, buses and long-distance transport, it makes even more sense. In fact, some operators are already looking ahead: a recent Road Haulage Association survey found that 12% of HGV operators want to introduce hydrogen-fuelled trucks and buses within the next five years, and believe the vehicles will be available to do so. 

But here’s the problem: the infrastructure simply is not there. At the moment, the UK has only a handful of hydrogen refuelling stations, around six. Compared with even the still-developing EV charging network, it is nowhere near where it needs to be. This is a fundamental barrier to its long term prospects as an alternative transport fuel source. 

The wider policy direction on the continent may point towards growth. The European Commission has mandated that by 2030 there should be at least one hydrogen filling station every 120 miles on major routes and in all towns with populations over 100,000. On paper, that sounds encouraging. In practice, it represents a huge infrastructure challenge, one that will require major investment, urgency and joined-up planning. 

For me, it reinforces the idea that EVs are not the final destination, they are the bridge. They are the intermediary step between petrol and whatever comes next, quite possibly hydrogen. EVs are gaining ground because they are available now, the market is growing, and the infrastructure, while still under pressure, is at least developing. Hydrogen may well prove to be the better long-term solution, but without a reliable refuelling network it remains more of a future ambition than a present reality.