7:27 am, January 14, 2022
Shell has replaced petrol pumps with fast EV chargers after the firm opened its first electric vehicle charging hub in Fulham.
The company currently has 119 charge points at its existing forecourts across the country but the West London hub is its first dedicated EV charging location.
It has the capacity for nine cars to top up their batteries using 175kW chargers, which are faster than the more common 50kW chargers.
Shell says the chargers should fill most vehicles’ batteries from 0-80 per cent in around 10 minutes.
Commenting on the new site, István Kapitány, Shell’s global executive vice president for mobility, said: ‘EV drivers are looking for a charging experience that is as fast, convenient and comfortable as possible. This is exactly what Shell Fulham aims to offer.’
Transport Minister Trudy Harrison added: ‘It is fantastic to see Shell leading the way with their brand-new charging hub, offering EV drivers an easy and rapid charging experience.
‘With more people making the switch to EVs than ever before, this is exactly the type of facility we need to help make the transition as simple as possible for drivers up and down the country.’
Shell Fulham has a sustainable design, with a timber canopy and built-in solar panels. The chargers themselves use 100 per cent certified renewable energy.
While customers wait for their car to charge, they can visit the on-site Little Waitrose and Partners or pop into Costa Coffee, with free Wi-Fi also available.
Charging hubs like these will become more common across the UK in the coming years, and Shell is aiming to have 50,000 on-street EV chargers installed in the UK by 2025 through Ubitricity.
The government has said that new petrol and diesel cars cannot be sold from 2030 unless they are part-electric hybrid, with only fully electric vehicles to be sold from 2035.
