The writing’s on the wall for the future of electric cars moving forward. There’s going to be more of them and the big oil companies want a slice of that pie.
While there isn’t an all-out switch to electric vehicles, there is a slow and gradual increase in the number on the road, and that momentum isn’t stopping anytime soon. According to Reuters, earlier yesterday (Nov. 27, 2017) oil companies are starting to see that they’ve got to diversify how they provide energy for its consumers. Shell is now partnering with a joint venture of automakers in Europe under the name Ionity, to provide high-powered charging stations in key highway locations, sites that will enable cars equipped to handle quick charging the ability to travel farther.
While charging stations are all over Europe, the speed of charging and locations have got some EV owners wary of taking longer trips. Shell’s partnership aims to change that.
With the ability to output 350 kw’s these are some seriously fast chargers. Teslas Superchargers, while fast as they are, are limited to about 145 kw, enabling charging times of about 30 mins to 80 percent full depending on the battery size. With more than twice the charging rate with these new Shell units, charge times drop significantly to a few minutes, rivaling even some gas station pumps.
In an earlier article by Reuters, even a rival, BP, was in talks with manufacturers to offer recharging docks at its fuel stations making availability that much more accessible. Given the power requirements and construction of traditional fuel stations, extensive work would have to be done make quick charging a possibility.
Projections from Shell expect the global fleet of electric cars to grow from one to 10 percent in eight years. If projections come even close to reality, oil companies are poised to lose 800,000 barrels of oil per day in consumption.
Theoretically, with demand for EV’s increasing and subsequently the demand for gas vehicles decreasing, fuel prices just might hit an all-time low as both energies battle out for supremacy.
But with renewables being replenishable, it’s easy to see who’ll win in the long run. Oil companies must act now if they want a piece of that EV infrastructure pie.
