Royal Dutch Shell Group .com Rotating Header Image

Shell plans UK’s first ‘no-petrol’ station as journey towards clean motoring continues

Jillian Ambrose: 

Royal Dutch Shell is preparing to open Britain’s first “no-petrol” service station in the capital next year as part of its drive towards cleaner motoring.

The forecourt is expected to offer motorists biofuels, electric vehicle charge points and hydrogen cell refuelling instead of traditional petrol and diesel pumps. Meanwhile, the buildings are due to be powered by ­renewable energy from solar panels on the forecourt roof.

Sources close to the Anglo-Dutch oil giant told The Telegraph that a central London site had been chosen, but the project was still at a very early stage. A spokesman for Shell declined to comment.

The no-petrol project is part of the company’s attempts to develop alternative fuels and overhaul its retail arm. Shell plans to open three hydrogen cell refuelling stations in the UK this year.

The first opened alongside traditional pumps at the nation’s busiest ­refuelling station at Cobham on the M25 in February.

Later this year Shell plans to roll out high-speed electric vehicle charge points across a selection of its 400 UK service stations, allowing drivers to charge their electric vehicle batteries by up to 80pc in 30 minutes. The group is about to begin an 18-month pilot scheme to test what the forecourt of the future might look like. Service stations will be presented ambitiously as “retail destinations”, providing good quality food and coffee alongside high-speed Wi-Fi. The trial will also include collection points for online shopping deliveries to improve convenience.

For drivers who cannot wait to ­refuel, Shell is trialling app-based fuel delivery. In Rotterdam customers can order fuel, specifying the time and ­location of the service. By leaving the fuel flap open, drivers do not even need to be present.

Shell is under pressure to guard against the threat of a quicker than expected move away from fossil fuels.

SOURCE

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Comments are closed.