Heck, there was even a Prius plugged in next to me, which goes to show these spots aren’t just useful for EV owners. So clearly not everyone has the same issues with price as me. The hub also got pretty busy in the half hour I was there, with a variety of different vehicles showing up. But this problem is specific to Shell, rather than the concept of EV charging hubs. Had I stayed at home and used the Gridserve rapid charger near my house, I would have paid £4.63 ($6.21) for the same amount of power. It may not seem like a lot, but those extra pennies do add up over the course of a single charging session.įor instance, I used 15.4 kWh of power at the Shell hub and was charged £7.56 ($10.13) for it. EV charging hubs don’t have that luxury, which is why it has the coffee shop, guaranteed bathroom access and a larger store than I’ve seen in any gas station throughout my life.Īccording to ZapMap, which lists the vast majority of available chargers, nearby rapid chargers were charging no more than £0.39 ($0.52) per kWh. That’s because people typically don’t hang around longer than they have to.
Your typical gas station will usually have a small convenience store attached, maybe a public bathroom if you’re lucky. Even the fastest charging cars need at least 15 minutes to recoup a meaningful amount of range - even longer if you want to charge your battery to the 80% mark. You have to plug in and wait, and that’s something we just cannot avoid. You can’t just roll up, fill up, and be gone within a few minutes. The key problem is that EV charging, even at ultra-fast speeds, is a time sink. After all, people were willing to travel to a gas station to refuel, why can’t they do it with electricity? The main concern I’ve had with EV charging hubs is that they appear to treat electricity the same way they treat gasoline.
#SHELLS GAS STATION FREE#
Well, except maybe finding a free EV charger, which do exist in good numbers despite some stupid opposition. But nothing beats being able to slap your card against a terminal to get things started. There are advantages to having a connected account, like keeping a log of when you charged and how much it cost. Far too many charging networks live and die on their companion apps, and a lot of them are absolutely terrible. Still I can appreciate a charger that has multiple payment options. Annoyingly, there was no mention of the activation fee at the site, or on the Shell website, but in my experience it’s a fairly common practice across charging networks.
#SHELLS GAS STATION PLUS#
I had to check my online banking, at which point I could see that the power cost me £7.56 (at £0.49 per kWh of power), plus what appears to be a £2.85 activation fee. Considering there was a contactless reader on the machine itself, I just used my credit card like any normal person would.
I couldn’t get the app to work, and it kept telling me I needed a Shell Recharge card. To me at least, that screams like Shell saying “please forget that we are still actively involved in the oil and gas industry.”Īnyone that uses the Shell Recharge app to activate their charge gets to see charging stats on their phone - cost included. Shell also brags that the canopy, which provides cover for cars and a home for the solar panels, is made from glued timber that requires less energy to produce and transport compared to steel.
Every other automaker, including Tesla Europe, does.Īccording to Shell the Fulham hub uses 100% renewable energy, with on-site solar panels contributing around a quarter of its needs.
That’s especially useful to me and all the other Nissan Leaf owners, since Nisan’s hatchback is one of the few remaining cars that doesn’t support the CCS charging standard. The Fulham hub has nine chargers, offering speeds up to 175kW, all of which have both CCS and CHAdeMO connectors. There are only seven in the United States, according to the Shell Recharge app. It also operates chargers in other regions, like the U.S. Shell currently offers 119 EV chargers across the U.K., including 65 rapid chargers and 54 “ultra-rapid” chargers (150kW speeds or above). (Image credit: Tom Pritchard/Tom's Guide)
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