Royal Dutch Shell Plc is making a four-year push to expand its network of electric vehicle chargers in the U.K. for the benefit of drivers who don’t have private parking.
The U.K. has banned the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, which will require a swift build out of the charging network. The U.K. government will meet 75% of the cost of the massive toll out.
Shell’s Ubitricity unit will install 50,000 on-street charging posts by 2025, according to a statement published Wednesday. It already has about 3,600 chargers in the country in existing infrastructure like street lamps.
The easiest way to replenish a car battery is at home, but about two-thirds of households in cities and urban environments don’t have off-street parking, according to the National Audit Office.
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The U.K. government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles currently covers 75% of the cost of installing on-street chargers, and Shell is prepared to cover the remaining costs, subject to commercial terms, the company said. It didn’t provide a figure for the total cost of the project.
“As more and more people make the switch to electric, this is a great example of how private investment is being used alongside government support to ensure that our EV infrastructure is fit for the future,” Rachel Maclean, U.K.’s transport minister, said in the statement.
Shell is hoping to transform from its oil past by a huge gambit with renewables and has set up a new arm Shell Energy to champion this reincarnation.
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In Nigeria where the Anglo Dutch giant at a time pumped out over 50% of the country’s oil production, Shell is divesting from all its on shore assets, expanding its gas operations and seed funded All-On a renewables only company.
Analysts believe Shell’s response to the on going global energy transition may have been forced on it, the gambit will pay off hugely in time but it could be a wake up call in oil dependent Nigeria where there is as yet no government policy to safeguard the economy from the shock this shift will cause.
