The major change has already begun in several European markets and particularly in Britain, where a new analysis predicts that by the end of the decade some London stations may stop selling diesel completely.
Not because they're going to be banned by some law. But because very simply it may no longer be in their interest to have pumps, tanks and valuable space for a fuel whose customer base is declining.
And that's exactly the big difference.
There is no European Union decision today to predict that the diesel will disappear from the stations in 2030 or 2035. But there is a market that is changing so quickly that, in some areas, dealers themselves can withdraw it long before there is any institutional ban.
British New AutoMotive estimates that some London stations could stop having diesel by 2030, while by 2035 several of the UK's approximately 8,400 stations may have taken the same course.
The reason is simple: diesel passenger cars are reduced at impressive speed.
In Britain, diesel had arrived a decade ago to represent almost half of the market for new cars. 2025 was limited to about 5%.
At the same time, areas such as London accelerate the exit of older diesels through low-emission and economic counter-incentives zones. The expanded ULEZ, for example, charges daily for older cars that do not meet the required emission standards.
The lower the number of diesel passenger cars, the more a station's finances change.
A pump used less and less can prove less profitable than two or three high-power fasteners, especially at a point with large circulation. The station of the future, after all, is no longer treated simply as a point of selling petrol and oil but as a small energy hub.
In Greece the diesel already «disappear» from new sales
The development is of particular interest to Greece, because the diesel has also yielded dramatically to the sales of new passenger cars.
The latest official evidence of the SAA is revealing. In the seven months of January-July 2026, the new diesel accounted for just 2.3% of the Greek passenger car marketIn July the percentage was even more limited to 1%. To understand the change, in the same seven months simple hybrids had reached the impressive 57,6%, the pure electric in 6,5% and the plug-in hybrid in 6,4%.
In other words, for every new diesel registered in Greece today, multiple electric or electrified cars are sold.
This alone shows where the market is going.
But there is a huge difference between new classifications and the millions of cars already on the Greek roads.
Greece has one of the oldest car fleets in Europe. This means that the transition of the overall fleet to newer technologies takes much longer than annual sales show.
Even more important is what happens to professional vehicles.
Trucks, light professional, tourist buses, distribution vehicles, agricultural machinery and much of transport still depend on the diesel. And their electrification goes much slower than in passenger cars.
Therefore, the scenario to start in the next few years the Greek stations to massively remove diesel pumps is not considered realistic.
At least not yet.
More likely we will see gradual rearrangement of the premises. Less emphasis on certain conventional fuels, more speed chargers, development of parking and charging spaces and greater participation of retail and catering services in station revenues.
This change has already begun in our country.
In 4 September 2026, the official Register of Infrastructures and Power Market Entities recorded 9,781 publicly accessible charging points at 4.152 locations in Greece.
The numbers are significantly apart from the image that existed just a few years ago and show how quickly a parallel energy infrastructure around the car begins to be created.
The station of the future will not only be «gas station»
The really interesting thing is therefore not whether one morning an announcement will be made that «Diesel prohibited». It's probably not going to happen that way. It will be done through the economy. When in an area electric and hybrid cars multiply, diesels are limited and drivers need more and more charging, the station operator will have to decide where he attributes more every square meter of his land.
And there may begin the real retreat of traditional pumps.
After all, the whole European policy is moving in this direction, even with several more adjustments and greater technological flexibility.
The current European framework still provides for a zero CO2 target for new cars and vans from 2035. However, the European Commission has already proposed its amendment, with a 90% reduction instead of 100% and a possibility to compensate for the remainder through a low carbon footprint of materials and renewable fuels.
The proposal is still in negotiation and therefore the current legal framework has not yet been replaced.
In any case, even the strictest European objectives concern mainly new vehicles. They do not mean that a diesel car already in circulation will be suddenly banned or that diesel pumps will be forced off.
And here is perhaps the biggest misunderstanding on the subject.
The end of the diesel, if it comes, will not happen everywhere on the same day.
In downtown London pumps may start disappearing before the end of the decade. On major European motorways, on the contrary, diesel will continue to be necessary for heavy vehicles a lot more.
In Greece, with the aging fleet and the high dependence on oil transport, the transition will be even slower.
There is also a paradox today: while in the long term we are talking about the retreat of the diesel, in the short term Europe faces strong pressure on its offer. International traffic oil prices have been ejected due to geopolitical turbulence and restrictions on Russian exports.
In other words, the diesel is far from there. «dead» It's today.
It is just that, for the first time in decades, the direction has been clear: passenger cars are rapidly losing ground and, together with this, even the position taken within the traditional fuel station begins to be questioned.
In Greece it will not disappear tomorrow. But the image of a station with six, eight or ten liquid fuel pumps and no charger is the one that will probably begin to disappear first.
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