Shell Recharge is upgrading 150 fast charging stations in Germany
Shell Recharge has upgraded 150 fast charging stations at more than 40 locations in Germany by the end of August. At least another 50 charging stations are set to receive new hardware by the end of the year.
According to the company, by the end of August it had equipped 150 fast charging stations at over 40 sites with new hardware. At least another 50 charging stations are planned to be upgraded by the end of 2026. In total, this modernization program will cover at least 200 charging stations this year.
Shell cites higher technical stability as the main reason for replacing older charging systems. The new hardware is intended to improve availability and ensure more reliable charging processes. Charging capacity will also be increased at selected locations. However, the statement does not specify which hardware will be used, which systems will be replaced, or by how much the charging capacity will increase. Shell also provides no concrete data regarding the promised improvement in availability. The company does not release previous failure rates or comparisons of availability before and after the hardware replacement. Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether and to what extent the modernization has already led to more reliable charging processes based on the manufacturer’s information.
"The next phase of electric mobility will not be determined solely by the number of charging stations, but by their reliability in everyday use," says Florian Glattes, head of Shell Mobility Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Therefore, the company aims to invest more in modernizing its existing charging network alongside expanding it.
Shell currently estimates the size of its fast-charging network in Germany at around 2,400 charging points. As recently as June, the company had reported around 2,200 fast-charging points. However, it is not possible to easily conclude that there was a net addition of around 200 charging points, as Shell has not released detailed data on network growth during this period. What is certain is that Shell continues to expand its HPC network simultaneously. In Hesse alone, the company reported 35 locations with 148 charging points as of June. Previously, Shell had announced 16 new HPC locations in Baden-Württemberg and another 19 in Berlin. Some of the recently expanded locations offer charging capacities of up to 400 kW.
The current program complements further network expansion by upgrading existing infrastructure. The 150 charging stations that have been modernized so far account for roughly six percent of Germany’s fast-charging network as listed by Shell. At least 50 more units are planned to receive new hardware by the end of the year, bringing the total to at least 200 charging stations. This shift emphasizes not only expansion but also the quality of the existing charging network.