Shell opens its first EV charging points in the UK

Shell has now opened its first EV charging points in the UK, starting the process of making filling station assets appropriate for the electric age.

Available at three sites in London, Surrey and Derby as from today, the network will be expanded to ten by the end of the year and rolled out more widely next. Fast charging is promised - 80% charge in only 20 minutes -  although the electricity is expensive at 25p/kWh. This, however sets the market rate and if Shell makes this pay then others will follow quickly; grid electricity costs less than half that so the big margins will attract competition. Solar electricity is cheaper still - around 4.5p/kWh - so forecourts with solar will be making five times their energy costs. With margins on selling petrol and diesel being so miserly, and EV drivers lingering to use the coffee and retail offer, forecourt operators might actually start wishing for the transition for EVs to happen more quickly.

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