Service stations go electric

Shell plans to fully convert its Fulham service station in West London to have 10 EV charging stalls with 150kW by mid-2020.

That follows Shell installing its 50th EV charging station in the United Kingdom and its first high-power 150kW charging stall.

Shell announced the opening of Shell Recharge – a new forecourt EV rapid charging service – as early as October 2017 at three sites with seven further locations in Greater London and Reading by the end of that year.

Now Shell and other fuel retail chains are looking to have fully electric stations.

London’s Financial Times reports Canada’s Couche-Tard, a multinational company with about 15,000 convenience stores, is using Norway as a “laboratory” to study a future without fossil fuel service stations.

Couche-Tard replaced fuel pumps with EV chargers in some of its Circle K gas stations in Scandinavia, Electrek reports.

The company also launched home and workplace charging services in Norway.

Shell, BP, and Total have all become involved in EV charging.

Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association secretary general Christin Bu is reported as saying the group has received oil-related visitors from locations like India and Latin America, with more and more visiting Norway as its government plans to end fossil-fuel car sales by 2025.

A Boston Consulting Group study found at least a quarter of petrol stations globally risk closure by 2035, suggesting they change from a “vehicle-centric business model” to a customer-based one with enhanced products and services.