This is how few electric cars are on Preston's streets

Despite manufacturers lowering prices and increasing the range of their cars, during 2018 there were only 35 new electric vehicles registered in the area.

That's far below the 4,452 in Birmingham, which had the highest increase of plug-in vehicles of any local authority in the United Kingdom.

The latest Department for Transport statistics show the number of registered electric or plug-in hybrid cars, vans and micro-cars called quadricycles in Preston.

At the end of 2017, there were 128 electric vehicles.By December last year, there were 163.

This is much lower than the vast majority of the country, and goes against the increased accessibility and practicality of electric cars in recent years.

The latest Nissan Leaf, the UK's most popular entirely electric car, can now travel 235 miles before it needs to be recharged, 80 miles more than the previous version.

Over the next year BP will install charging points at its petrol stations, following Shell's roll-out in 2017. Dyson has also said it plans to release an electric car by 2020.

One advantage electric car users have over other vehicles is that they do not have to pay road tax, as they do not release any emissions.

Electricity is also far cheaper than petrol and diesel, and green drivers have the satisfaction of helping save the planet.

However, in November, the Government reduced the maximum discount electric car buyers could get from £4,500 to £3,500.

Unsurprisingly, plug-in vehicles still make up a tiny percentage of the cars on the road in Preston: there are 163 electric cars, and 69,461 vehicles in total.