Shells Ratner moment?
Discussion
Seen this Tweet where Shell are insisting that the UK Government move forward its ban on Petrol and Diesel cars by five years!
https://mobile.twitter.com/Shell_UKLtd/status/1283...
Wonder what the Shell motorsport division think about having this fruitloop sounding off? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-we-need-plan-ac...
https://mobile.twitter.com/Shell_UKLtd/status/1283...
Wonder what the Shell motorsport division think about having this fruitloop sounding off? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-we-need-plan-ac...
sherman said:
Is this not shell saying to crack on with it as they have the tech and space to make charging points instead of petrol pumps?
Yeah exactly. They will just replace petrol pumps with charging stations and make more profit, and not have to worry about shipping black oily stuff around.Jim the Sunderer said:
I wouldn't say it's a Ratner.
Just eco PR puffery.
Indeed. In this day and age where financial investors are concerned about public image, the oil companies are working on diversifying. They need to get their message across so that they are not seen as the evil polluting empire.Just eco PR puffery.
This is good PR and good business sense.
buggalugs said:
sherman said:
Is this not shell saying to crack on with it as they have the tech and space to make charging points instead of petrol pumps?
Yeah exactly. They will just replace petrol pumps with charging stations and make more profit, and not have to worry about shipping black oily stuff around.It's the future.
I work in Oil and Gas downstream infrastructure engineering (i.e. designing, building, and upgrading refineries and petrochemical plants).
One of our competitors put out a press release a couple of months back saying they were getting out of the industry entirely post COVID-19 as they didn't see much work going forward. The rest of the industry seems to be consolidating to make bigger companies doing more diverse things like nuclear and renewables or focusing on transport infrastructure so the former blue chip Oil and Gas departments are being sidelined.
Look at who makes your petrol. Shell doesn't have a refinery in the UK (they are still involved in production though), just franchised garages. It's like Gregs profits being boosted by vegan sausage rolls, doesn't matter whether they're vegan or pork as long as more people buy them next year than this last year to keep the shareholders happy.
From a practical/financial perspective, it might be a calculated bluff that they have the ability to install charging stations quicker than their competitors, so it might make sense to create demand quicker than their competitors can grow.
Fearmongering about long queues for charging stations is likely to be proved wrong, petrol is limited in where you can buy it because it's inherently dangerous, you can't spill it because it will catch fire or get into the water table. A charging station can be anywhere, I doubt you'd spend 20 minutes waiting for a "petrol station" charger when you could just plug in at home 99% of the time, on top of that there'll be charging in car parks and on street. I'd expect "petrol station" charging to end up being like motorway services are now, as sort of expensive monopolised emergency option for emergencies and business users.
I work in Oil and Gas downstream infrastructure engineering (i.e. designing, building, and upgrading refineries and petrochemical plants).
One of our competitors put out a press release a couple of months back saying they were getting out of the industry entirely post COVID-19 as they didn't see much work going forward. The rest of the industry seems to be consolidating to make bigger companies doing more diverse things like nuclear and renewables or focusing on transport infrastructure so the former blue chip Oil and Gas departments are being sidelined.
Look at who makes your petrol. Shell doesn't have a refinery in the UK (they are still involved in production though), just franchised garages. It's like Gregs profits being boosted by vegan sausage rolls, doesn't matter whether they're vegan or pork as long as more people buy them next year than this last year to keep the shareholders happy.
From a practical/financial perspective, it might be a calculated bluff that they have the ability to install charging stations quicker than their competitors, so it might make sense to create demand quicker than their competitors can grow.
Fearmongering about long queues for charging stations is likely to be proved wrong, petrol is limited in where you can buy it because it's inherently dangerous, you can't spill it because it will catch fire or get into the water table. A charging station can be anywhere, I doubt you'd spend 20 minutes waiting for a "petrol station" charger when you could just plug in at home 99% of the time, on top of that there'll be charging in car parks and on street. I'd expect "petrol station" charging to end up being like motorway services are now, as sort of expensive monopolised emergency option for emergencies and business users.
Edited by thisisnotaspoon on Monday 20th July 22:37
thisisnotaspoon said:
It's the future.
Fearmongering about long queues for charging stations is likely to be proved wrong, petrol is limited in where you can buy it because it's inherently dangerous, you can't spill it because it will catch fire or get into the water table. A charging station can be anywhere, I doubt you'd spend 20 minutes waiting for a "petrol station" charger when you could just plug in at home 99% of the time, on top of that there'll be charging in car parks and on street. I'd expect "petrol station" charging to end up being like motorway services are now, as sort of expensive monopolised emergency option for emergencies and business users.
I know it's the future, but while there are limits on where you can buy petrol you still have far more options than for charging. And a petrol top-up takes minutes instead of hours! I live on the Berks/Hants/Surrey borders and there are 4 fuel stations within a mile or so with multiple pumps on each site, but in the same area only 4 charging stations in the Tesco car park. And no street charging stations.Fearmongering about long queues for charging stations is likely to be proved wrong, petrol is limited in where you can buy it because it's inherently dangerous, you can't spill it because it will catch fire or get into the water table. A charging station can be anywhere, I doubt you'd spend 20 minutes waiting for a "petrol station" charger when you could just plug in at home 99% of the time, on top of that there'll be charging in car parks and on street. I'd expect "petrol station" charging to end up being like motorway services are now, as sort of expensive monopolised emergency option for emergencies and business users.
Edited by thisisnotaspoon on Monday 20th July 22:37
As for charging at home that is only an option if you have a garage or off-road parking, which most people who live in the congested areas that most suit EVs don't have unless they are powerfully built PH Company Directors - who will just use their Aston Martin anyway, because they can.
There is still a long way to go on infra-structure and I would want to avoid Shell at all costs anyway! Locally their headline petrol price might look vaguely competitive but if you want Super-plus fuel it's stupidly expensive, so I use Tesco Momentum with a higher Octane rating.
Mr Tidy said:
As for charging at home that is only an option if you have a garage or off-road parking, which most people who live in the congested areas that most suit EVs don't have unless they are powerfully built PH Company Directors - who will just use their Aston Martin anyway, because they can.
I think that will be mostly solved by simply having on-street charging bays, and (more difficult) by ensuring leaseholders have the right to install chargers in their parking bays. Apparently the street lighting circuits are already beefy enough for a pair of chargers each, and laying brand new circuits wouldn't be that expensive, especially if the fees were set up to recoup some of the costs.
A1VDY said:
buggalugs said:
sherman said:
Is this not shell saying to crack on with it as they have the tech and space to make charging points instead of petrol pumps?
Yeah exactly. They will just replace petrol pumps with charging stations and make more profit, and not have to worry about shipping black oily stuff around.I was in the BP by the Hammersmith flyover last week, which has about 7 or 8 charging points now. All were in use with a queue of 5 or 6 waiting for a bay.
I think all the cars waiting were taxis, one black cab and an assortment of Teslas and Leafs
Very popular if a bit slow, having to stop for a charge must take a chunk out of the drivers day.
I think all the cars waiting were taxis, one black cab and an assortment of Teslas and Leafs
Very popular if a bit slow, having to stop for a charge must take a chunk out of the drivers day.
bristolracer said:
I was in the BP by the Hammersmith flyover last week, which has about 7 or 8 charging points now. All were in use with a queue of 5 or 6 waiting for a bay.
I think all the cars waiting were taxis, one black cab and an assortment of Teslas and Leafs
Very popular if a bit slow, having to stop for a charge must take a chunk out of the drivers day.
AFAIK electric black cabs are based on the Volvo platform. So have a diesel engine too.I think all the cars waiting were taxis, one black cab and an assortment of Teslas and Leafs
Very popular if a bit slow, having to stop for a charge must take a chunk out of the drivers day.
Kermit power said:
If Twitter and PH had existed at the start of the last century, we would've seen posts like this mocking farriers for saying they were going to replace their forges with tyre fitting machines, yet we all know how that played out.
Yes !!!! there are probably as many horses as there ever were but most are for leisure purposes ,Possibly a good model for the future of the IC car , garages looking after the needs of the leisure user mind I think they will
need to drop the Jamie Oliver stuff ....
Presumably Shell (and others) buy their electricity from the national grid and then add a profit margin at the charge point? So, I assume it's cheaper to charge at home because you're not paying Shell for the facilities? I have no idea how this works because I don't have an electric car.
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