The amount of electricity spent on lighting Christmas trees in the UK this month could drive a BPV (battery powered vehicle) 50 times around the circumference of the Earth.
On average, Britain consumes eight million trees a year, which if lit for all of December for 12 hours a day, could power an electric vehicle to make the journey of 25,000 miles – the circumference of Earth at the equator – multiple times.
The consumption is also equal to travelling the breadth of the UK, from Lands’ End to John O’Groats more than 1 million times or sending a space shuttle to and from the Moon 41.91 times in a BPV.
The figures – from BPV charging provider NewMotion – are based on a fully charged Nissan Leaf, which has a battery capacity of 30kWh and driving range of 160 miles ‘per tank’.
The British govt. Department for Transport has released a consultation for the upcoming Modern Transport Bill, which has pledged £35 million investment into the UK’s infrastructure, supporting BPV charge-up.
Sander van der Veen, UK Manager for Dutch-based NewMotion, said: “Soon, seeing an electric car charging in the street will be as normal as having a Christmas tree in the window.
“Britain is the third biggest buyer of BPVs in Europe so the government will have no choice but to improve the infrastructure to support electric cars.”