Following earlier announcements that Royal Dutch Shell would be installing electric vehicle fast-charging stations at some of its gas/petrol service stations in certain parts of the world, the company has now revealed that it has gone a big step further and has acquired the electric vehicle charging network firm NewMotion.
NewMotion is currently the owner of one of Europe’s largest electric vehicle (EV) charging station networks, so the news is fairly notable, and seems to show that Royal Dutch Shell is taking the fast growth of the EV sector seriously.
“Today’s announcement is an early step towards ensuring customers can access a range of refuelling choices over the coming decades,” commented Matthew Tipper, the company’s vice president for the “new fuels” division.
“NewMotion specializes in converting parking spots into electric charging stations and has more than 30,000 EV charging points in Europe. Like Shell, it is also based in the Netherlands,” Steve Hanley reports on sister site Gas2.
“They’re complementary offers. One is fast charging on the go [at the service stations] and the other is a slightly slower rate of charge at the workplace or at home. At this stage there are no plans to integrate the two,” Shell’s vice-president for new fuels, Matthew Tipper, Shell’s vice president of new fuels stated.
“This is a way of broadening our offer as we move through the energy transition,” Tipper told CNN Money. “It’s certainly a form of diversification. … The degree to which electrification is changing mobility is very, very apparent here. It leads to this mindset.”
For more information on Shell’s plans as regards EV fast-charging infrastructure plans, it’s probably worth taking a look at some of our earlier coverage. You can find that here: Shell Working On “Smart” EV Charging To Even Out Grid Demand, Exec Says, and here: Shell Stations In UK & The Netherlands Will Add EV Charging Stalls.
