London (AFP)
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it plans to install 50,000 electric vehicle charging stations on the streets of the UK by the end of 2025, through its subsidiary Ubitricity.
The Anglo-Swedish group wants to "provide more possibilities for charging electric vehicles for millions of British drivers who do not have a private parking space and help local authorities to make their charging network operational as quickly as possible" .
Nearly 3,600 Ubitricity charging stations - acquired in February - are currently available in the UK, says Shell.
The UK government, through the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), is currently funding the cost of these on-street charging stations up to 75% and Shell says it is "ready to cover the rest of the costs".
The group specifies that 60% of households in English cities do not have private parking, and speeding up access to charging stations in the streets is therefore essential for the transition to green vehicles, one of the key elements. to achieve the UK's carbon neutrality target by 2050.
The UK Climate Change Commission recently estimated that the country needs 150,000 public charging stations by 2025.
The UK government is currently funding the cost of street loading stations up to 75% DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS AFP / Archives
Shell also wants to install loading stations in supermarkets, company car parks and housing in the United Kingdom.
Globally, it aims to increase its fleet of charging stations to 500,000 by 2025 from around 60,000 today.
Shell plans to become carbon neutral by 2050 through investments in new energies, the use of CO2 offsetting mechanisms - contested by environmental movements - and a reduction in its dependence on oil but without giving it up.
The boss of the group has also pleaded to continue extracting hydrocarbons in the North Sea, despite pressure from NGOs to stop new projects.
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