The number of electric car charges in the UK will surpass the number of fuel stations in the next four years, according to the latest research from Nissan.

The car manufacturer, which makes the Leaf electric car, believes that the number of fuel stations in the UK will fall from 8,472 to 7,870 by 2020, by which time it expects there to be 7,900 electric car charge points in the country.

Five years ago, there were only a few hundred car chargers available and by today that figure has risen to over 4,100 along with rapidly increasing car sales.

In the first quarter of 2016, more than 115 electric cars were registered every day, with the Go Ultra Low campaign group suggesting that electric could become the dominant fuel type in the next decade or so.

Nissan’s research also states that 98% of UK motorway services have charging points, while London’s congestion charge zone has just four fuel stations left.

The data used by the company was sourced from the Energy Institute along with Zap Map, which is a tool tracking the UK’s electric car charge points.

Nissan has also made an effort to push ahead with research into car sharing in cities through the manufacturer’s Future Lab scheme which was set up two years ago.

The project will use a fleet of re-badged Renault Twizys in San Francisco that are ordered using a smartphone app to track consumer behaviour.

The lab will also look into the possibility of electric vehicles giving back to the national grid, with the batteries in the cars being used to store electricity to be used in high demand periods. The cars may also be used in emergencies in a similar way to a back-up generator.

Plug-in registrations totalled 19,252 for the year-to-date, 4,640 units ahead of the same period last year.