Energy giant Shell has revealed plans to install 50,000 on-street EV charging points across the UK by 2025, through ubitricity, part of the Shell group.
The move is part of a wider effort to bring more EV charging availability to the millions of UK drivers without private parking and help local authorities get their charging networks up-and-running as quickly as possible.
Around 3,600 ubitricity chargers are already in place in the UK, using existing street infrastructure such as lamp posts and bollards. In order to drive take-up to reach the 50,000 figure, Shell will support local authorities with a financing offer to install more ubitricity on-street chargers in towns and cities across the UK at potentially zero cost.
The UK government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) currently meets 75% of the cost of installing on-street chargers through the On-Street Residential Charging Scheme (ORCS). For local authorities looking to install ubitricity charge posts, Shell is prepared to cover the remaining costs, subject to commercial terms.
More than 60% of households in English cities and urban areas do not have off-street parking – this rises to 68% for people living in social housing, according to recent figures1. “It’s vital to speed up the pace of EV charger installation across the UK and this aim and financing offer is designed to help achieve that,” said David Bunch, Shell’s UK Country Chair. “Whether at home, at work or on-the-go, we want to give drivers across the UK accessible EV charging options, so that more drivers can switch to electric.”
Transport Minister Rachel Maclean added: “Together with industry and local authorities, we can create cleaner, greener local communities – providing EV chargepoints for people without off-street parking across the country.
As more and more people make the switch to electric, this is a great example of how private investment is being used alongside Government support to ensure that our EV infrastructure is fit for the future. This is crucial as we build back greener and accelerate towards COP26.”
The UK Committee for Climate Change recently recommended that the UK needed 150,000 public charge points operating across the UK by 20252. Today’s announcement, which is a third of that total, sits alongside the rapid roll-out of Shell-owned charge points at forecourts, supermarkets, businesses and homes, to provide the UK’s EV drivers with the full range of charging options.
Globally, Shell wants to grow its electric vehicle network from more than 60,000 charge points today to around 500,000 by 2025. This is part of its broader target to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society’s progress in achieving the goal of the UN Paris Agreement on climate change.
Shell acquired ubitricity in February 2021. ubitricity, a European provider of on-street charging, has fast become a market leader in the UK and is now an approved supplier to local authorities. Founded in Berlin, Germany, ubitricity operates in a number of European countries, and has the largest public EV charging network in the UK with over 3,600 charge points (currently over 14% market share).
