By Ron Bousso
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday announced plans to vastly expand its network of electric vehicle charging points in Britain, aiming to install 50,000 on-street posts by 2025.
Shell will implement the plans through ubitricity, an on-street charging point company that it acquired in February which operates around 3,600 chargers in Britain.
The expansion is part of a government-backed push to rapidly grow Britain’s electric vehicle (EV) fleet in line with a target to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. Britain also plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.
According to a recent government report https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electric-vehicle-charging-market-study-final-report/final-report, between 280,000 and 480,000 charging points will be needed in Britain by 2030, compared with today’s 25,000 spots.
To support its charging point expansion in Britain, Shell plans to help local authorities finance their installation.
The Anglo-Dutch company, which did not provide details on the cost of the initiative, will make money through selling its power at the charging points.
Shell aims to grow its global network of electric vehicle charging points from over 60,000 points today to 500,000 in 2025 as part of its strategy to become a net zero emissions company by mid-century.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Barbara Lewis)
