Oil Companies Consider Charging for Electric Car Charging at Gas Stations

Gas Station Owners Are Looking to Profit from Electric Car Charging. Companies Like Petrobras and Shell Plan to Install Hundreds of Charging Stations.

Companies are starting to focus on opportunities to generate profits from electric car charging at gas stations. The aim is to provide ultra-fast or fast charging for those who own electric cars. In general, it is possible to charge electric cars in about 20 minutes. Among the various companies is Shell, which plans to install 35 charging stations at gas stations in Brazil by the end of next year. Another major brand in the sector, Petrobras, plans to build at least 70 electric car charging points by the end of next year.

Charging Point Installed at Petrobras Gas Stations

In the case of Petrobras, the news arrived in July of this year. Vibra, a licensed company of the brand, inaugurated the first charging station. At the site, there are three charging points and according to the company, the plugs feature CCS-2 standards, CHAdeMO, an abbreviation for CHArge de MOve, equivalent to Movement of Charge, as well as Type 2 connector. The maximum output power of the electric car charging station is 150 kW in direct current or 45 kW in alternating current.

The charging point was built at the Petrobras Arco-Íris station, located in the city of Roseira, São Paulo, on Via Dutra. Thus, electric car owners will have this convenience to reach Rio de Janeiro through the charging points at gas stations.

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Initially, customers can charge their vehicles completely free of charge. Those registered in the Premmia program can also earn ten times more points.

Companies Start Charging for Electric Car Charging at Gas Stations

Petrobras aims to connect seven states in the country, covering the South and Southeast. According to Vibra, the charging stations will also reach Brasília.

According to Wilson Ferreira Junior, president of Vibra, in a statement, the choice to prioritize the company’s operations at road gas stations was made because it was observed that currently, the biggest difficulty for electric vehicle owners is related to the lack of charging infrastructure outside urban centers, which can negatively impact the user’s experience over long distances.

For now, there is no payment model for electric car charging in the country. However, this possibility is not ruled out. This year, the first companies have already begun charging for the service, such as Shell, which charges a rate of R$ 1.90 per kWh at a station in São Paulo.

ANEEL Approves Charging Fees

Under the name Shell Recharge, Shell’s charging station provides charging for up to 35 minutes for electric vehicles. The station uses the Tupinambá app to conduct the billing. Additionally, Tupinambá operates its own network comprising 150 charging points, half of which are already charging for the service.

Although it is not a very common practice, charging for charging has a legal basis. In June 2018, resolution No. 819 from the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) authorized this charging. Companies and private locations may charge people to charge electric vehicles.

On the other hand, gas stations can choose not to charge for the charging and build customer loyalty through convenience. In the US, for example, the revenue from these stores turns out to be higher than from fuel sales.