Shell has signed a partnership deal with Dutch electric vehicle charging provider Allego which will see fast chargers installed at various service stations around the UK by the end of the year.
The oil and gas giant announced back in May that it planned to have ten EV charging posts installed by the end of 2017, with downstream director John Abbott confirming during a speech at Shell’s Powering Progress Together event that the first would be installed this month.
Allego has hundreds of charging posts installed around the UK with the highest concentration at Lee Valley Park, which hosted several events during 2012 London Olympics. The deal will see the Dutch company install and operate 50kW fast chargers at selected Shell stations in Greater London and Derby.
The decision by Shell follows the recent Queen’s Speech which included plans for an Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill which, like the Modern Transport Bill it replaces, will include plans to see motorway services and petrol stations install electric charging points.
However, a spokesperson for Shell UK explained that the plans to introduce infrastructure for electric vehicles had been in the planning well before the opening of the latest Parliament.
“It’s great to see it in the speech but it wasn’t the driver. When we look at maintaining our position…we have to look at every kind of customer need. This has been in the pipeline for a while,” they said earlier today.
“You have to provide every type of energy source and electric is part of that mix. Providing that and helping to meet customer need is our main motivation, it doesn’t matter if it’s electric or hydrogen or possible LPG; we’re looking at every type of solution to help keep cars on the road.”
The locations will be listed on Shell’s motorist app so that customers can easily identify where to charge up. Allego’s current charge point map displays a number of charge points as well as their status; free, occupied and unknown. It is not yet known if Shell’s app will seek to improve this visibility over its charge points.
Anja van Niersen, chief executive of Allego, said: “We are proud being a service partner for Shell and that we can contribute to the transition towards cleaner mobility.
“We see that people are willing to shift towards electric mobility. But a lack of appropriate level of charging infrastructure and interoperable charging services is one of their main concerns. Allego and Shell join forces by adding fast chargers at the right service stations. Shell now actively contributes in creating a reliable and open charging network.”
