Shell has launched a new charging network for electric HGVs, with fleet operators of heavy-duty vehicles able to cut their total cost of ownership (TCO) by as much as 25% if they sign up to it.
The project is being led by SBRS, an EV charging firm for commercial vehicles that the oil major purchased in 2022. With diesel trucks being phased out across Europe over the next 15 years, the aim is to help electrify the continent’s haulage fleet.
Key to Shell and SBRS’ offering is a blended approach to chargepoint access, which will see customers able to recharge battery-powered trucks at four types of location: Shell Recharge sites; private chargepoints; semi-public depots; and what the firm calls ‘roaming partner locations’, which comprise chargers operated by other providers.
The programme will help manage chargepoint access during peak hours, while allowing fleets without depots, or no ability to install depot-based charging, to electrify their vehicles. Shell also promises “stable and reduced energy pricing”, and says its integrated EV network represents a “turnkey” solution that combines hardware, software and energy supply, and management tools.
These aspects are said to streamline the complex charging picture fleet operators currently face, “connecting the dots” to bring together underutilised commercial chargepoints, fragmented networks and changeable energy prices, allowing firms to manage, plan and budget their electrification aims, while also encouraging the sluggish eHGV market. Firms with chargepoints at their depots, meanwhile, will be able to unlock a new revenue stream by signing up for other trucks to use their sockets.
Conrad Mummert, Shell’s head of SBRS, says the new network “supports fleet operators by providing dependable access and helps to reduce the total cost of ownership for battery-electric trucks by up to 25%”, adding that this is being achieved “a combination of cost-saving and revenue-generating opportunities”, as well as stabilised energy prices, and the ability to manage depot access across multiple sites during peak hours.
