Charging stations Archives

Last year, Shell announced plans to replace oil stations with electric charging stations to meet the growing number of electric vehicles on the road. Another British oil company, BP (British Petroleum), followed the same path and installed five ultra-fast chargers of 300 kW in Cromwell Road in the western part of London, with the capacity to charge 10 cars simultaneously.

The charging station was installed in the place where the fuel station used to be, and BP was guided by research that showed that half of their customers in the UK visit retail sites purely to shop. That is why there is a store next to the charging station where drivers can buy food, drinks and other things.

“This new format site is not just about providing fast, reliable charging where drivers need it, but also delivering an outstanding retail experience, in a strategic location connecting central London with Heathrow and the west of England. Whether you’re looking for EV charging, traditional fuel, or just a great place to rest and recharge, bp is ready to become the first choice for customers on the roadside,” said Richard Bartlett, CEO of bp pulse.

BP Pulse now has almost 3,500 rapid and ultra-fast charge points, including at over 225 bp retail sites.

Source: BP

The increase in the number of electric cars on the road necessarily requires an increase in the number of charging stations, which opens new business opportunities for oil companies to become interested in this field of investment. One of them is the British company Shell, which intends to increase the number of its electric charging stations.

The British company announced the “Energy Transition Strategy 2024” plan, which includes investment in the construction of charging stations. However, this requires a large amount of money, and the first move Shell intends to make is to sell 1,000 of its current oil stations over the next two years.

In 2023, Shell Recharge EV had 27,000 electric chargers in various locations around the world, and last year that number was increased to 54,000 chargers. Now, the company intends to increase the number of chargers to more than 300,000 worldwide by the end of the decade.

“There are about 40 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road in the world today, and by 2030 there are expected to be 275 million. The availability of chargers will be critical for the growth of electric vehicles,” the company said.

Although Shell’s chargers are not compatible with the Tesla Supercharger or Electrify America networks, the British company has over 3,000 chargers in 31 US states, and more than 3,400 additional chargers are in development. Also, Shell Recharge EV last year opened its largest electric vehicle charging station (258 chargers) at the airport in Shenzhen, China. It was a good business decision considering that data shows that more than 3,300 electric vehicles use this station every day.

Shell believes that the demand for oil will decrease over time and that gasoline will not be primary in the future. “We believe that oil demand growth will slow down in the second half of this decade, and a more intense decline could occur in the next decade due to increased efficiency and growth in sales of electric vehicles,” the company said.

Source: Bloomberg

Cars and catalogues