► Video: coast to coast in a Kia EV6
► Powered by Shell Recharge’s clean energy
► Big growth plans for charging network
PROMOTIONAL POST in association with
With new electric cars now packing ranges topping 200, 300, even 400 miles, range anxiety has metamorphosised into charging anxiety.
So Shell Recharge asked CAR to put its public charging network to the test, by driving a Kia EV6 coast to coast across the UK. We drove from Whitesands Bay in Wales to Aldeburgh, Suffolk in the midst of the UK’s hottest ever heatwave.
Our EV6 GT-Line, voted 2022’s Car of the Year by Europe’s top motoring journalists, has an official range of 328 miles. But our road trip would significantly exceed that distance, requiring us to power up near Bristol and then again at Shell Recharge Fulham Road. That’s the company’s first all-EV charging hub in the UK – and a vision of charging to come.
Watch the video to see how we fared, learn all about chargers and payment types, and how to maximise an EV’s range.
Shell Recharge: all you need to know
Shell Recharge has kicked off a massive public charging roll-out, aiming to grow from today’s 230-plus forecourt chargepoints to 11,000 across forecourts, EV hubs and in other locations by 2030. And they won’t just be at Shell forecourts: the company will install up to 800 at 100 Waitrose stores, so customers can charge as they shop.
The company is investing £20-£25 billion into the country’s energy system over the next decade.. That includes transforming some petrol and diesel forecourts into EV charging hubs such as Shell Recharge Fulham Road, which has nine 175kW ultrarapid chargers to get people back on the road quickly.
Crucially, all Shell Recharge locations are supplied with electricity from 100 per cent certified renewable sources.*
Wind farms and electrified lamp posts too
Shell is also installing on-street chargers in lamp posts and street infrastructure, through its subsidiary Ubitricity. And in conjunction with Scottish Power, Shell is building two wind farms off the Scottish coast, bringing clean energy to power the equivalent of six million UK homes.
All told, the vision is to deliver a 100,000-strong public EV charging network by 2030, the year the UK is slated to phase out sales of new cars with petrol and diesel engines. By then, if Shell makes good on its aims, 90 per cent of all UK drivers will be within 10 minutes of a Shell Rapid charger.
* Shell’s renewable electricity is certified by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs), which means that all of the electricity Shell purchases to supply Shell Recharge sites is matched with the equivalent number of units from 100% renewable sources in the UK.