Shell, a company known for its deep involvement with hydrocarbon, is charting a new future for itself as an electric vehicle charging services provider. The energy giant is expanding its UK partnership with Waitrose by installing up to 800 charging points in about 100 Waitrose stores.
At the same time, Shell will increase the number of its forecourts where customers can shop for Waitrose food. The number of forecourts will increase by 68 to 125 across the country.
Each Waitrose site will have six 22 kW and two 50 kW rapid chargers for the use of customers as they browsed the contents of Waitrose stores.
This ‘destination service’ scheme is expected to start operation next year. It will mark Shell’s entry into providing EV owners opportunities to charge their vehicle while at a location for another purpose. The energy company plans to grow this network to 5,000 chargers by 2025.
Destination charging is often used by businesses to attract EV owners’ patronage and make rental properties more desirable.
Bernadette Williamson, General Manager Shell UK Retail, said: “This is great news for EV drivers across the UK, knowing they can easily, quickly, and reliably charge up at Shell charge points while shopping at Waitrose. We want to make EV charging as hassle-free as possible and support our customers wherever they want to charge.”
James Bailey, Executive Director of Waitrose, said: “This is an important partnership for Waitrose and means we can offer even greater convenience to more of our customers. We’re also delighted to bring our customers 800 new charging points for electric vehicles, including new rapid charging capabilities, as the UK moves more and more towards a sustainable transport network.”
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