Royal Dutch Shell, the Netherlands-based oil and gas company, has announced the 100% acquisition of UK’s largest public electric vehicle charging system – Ubitricity for an undisclosed sum. The deal is likely to close in the latter half of 2021. Reportedly, with the purchase, Shell has entered the rapidly growing EV industry and will offer crucial competencies, assisting it to expand the firm’s overall EV charging portfolio.

Along similar lines, the offer includes more than 1,000 ultra-fast and fast charging stations across 430 Shell retail outlets along with worldwide access to nearly 185,000 third-party electric vehicle charging stations across a wide range of public locations.

Through this acquisition, the Dutch oil giant aims at becoming a net-zero emissions energy company by or before 2050.

In a statement by István Kapitány, Vice President, Shell Global Mobility, said that the company aims at supporting increasing number of Shell consumers to shift to EV variants. Kapitány further added that the on-street options like lamp post charging solutions by Ubitricity will be highly preferred by those who live and work in cities or have restricted access to off-street parking. This convenient EV charging option can help charge the vehicles no matter where the user is.

Headquartered in Berlin, Ubitricity is a prominent EV charging network in the UK with more than 2,700 charging stations and accounts for nearly 13.1% of the total market. The company has also established emerging public charging services in France and Germany and has deployed more than 1,500 private charging stations for fleet customers across Europe.  

The German electric vehicle charging solution works along with local authorities to integrate EV charging with the prevailing street infrastructure like bollards and lamp posts. After completion of the deal, Ubitricity will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell.

Source Credit: https://www.uktech.news/news/edinburgh-medtech-manus-funding-20210126