EV chargers have started popping up at UK Shell stations
The company will offer 50-kW DC chargers at 10 stations by the end of the year.
As promised, Shell is adding electric vehicle charging to its UK petrol stations. "Shell Recharge" is already already available at three locations in Holloway (London), Derby and Whyteleafe (Surrey). A further seven sites across Greater London and Reading will be opened up before the end of the year. Though this is welcome news for EV owners, 10 stations is but a fraction of the 1,000 that Shell currently operates in the UK. The company has a long way to go before it can match Tesla's Supercharger network, or the nationwide infrastructure offered by Ecotricity and Chargemaster's Polar scheme.
Still, it's a start. The 10 stations will offer 50 kW DC chargers with connections for combined charging system (CCS), Chademo and AC Type 2 (43kW). Every car is different, but Shell says its Recharge stations will take will take most batteries from zero to 80 percent in 30 minutes. Those figures are competitive with most public UK chargers, but are a long way off the 120 kW throughput offered by Tesla. Drivers will need to pay for their electricity using a payments app called Smoov. It will normally cost 49p per kWh, but until June 30th, 2018, that figure is being kept at 25p.
