Shell Recharge

Chandraprakash G | 2023-Dec-13

Chandraprakash G
Shell recharge India android app
Shell recharge app store app

Overview

There are around a dozen Shell Recharge stations in Tamilnadu and all of them are located in and around Chennai.

Make: Star Charge
Dual CCS2 guns: Yes

RFID Card: No
RFID Key tag: No

Charging station and cost

Charging station setup

DC - 2 x 120 kW
(Load shared between two CCS2 guns)

AC - 3 x 3.3 kW

Cost

DC 120 kW
₹23 + 18% GST = ₹27.1 / kWh

AC 3.3 kW
₹20 + 18% GST = ₹23.6 / kWh

Distribution

List of charging stations in and around Chennai

Below are the recently added stations

Note:

All of the above stations are created in PlugShare app as well

Pros

  1. Having only 120 kW stations in India, Shell Recharge charging stations are preferred by EVs capable of pulling above 60 kW, which would reduce the charging time significantly

  2. All their stations have Dual CC2 with load shared machines (2 x 120 kW), which is mandatory to avoid significant waiting time for EVs arriving to charge

  3. Neatly maintained charging bays which are protected while not in use to avoid other vehicles blocking the charging bays

  4. Deli2go attached restaurant in Shell stations are quite useful especially to pick some snacks or to grab a cup of coffee while charging

Deli2go Restaurant open 24/7

Cons

  1. Most of the Shell Recharge stations are turned off and shows as offline in app, while checking in person it's been found out that the heavy load is causing the mccb to trip and not flipped back ON by the people managing it

    I checked couple of stations and then while asking them to flip the mccb back ON, stations are working as normal, Shell India needs to take Load with additional buffer or should find the root cause to avoid these issues

  2. Some of the Shell stations are closed after 10 pm which is a serious issue for EVs visiting the stations as well as for the CPO as they can't get enough revenue to even pay the Fixed cost for the load taken to Electricity board every month

  3. The Shell Recharge app has a serious flaw which clusters the charging stations which is completely unreadable, I hope they look into apps like Zeon charging, Relux etc and fix this issue

  4. At this point there is no RFID card/tag been provided by Shell Recharge, probably due to very less stations

  5. Even taking Tamilnadu as an example, all the 12 Shell Recharge stations are located in and around Chennai

    These high speed 120 kW charging stations provide no use being inside City as the city dwellers would charge their EVs in home

    I hope Shell Recharge expands into highways and are spread across cities to make these stations profitable

  6. Considering the Fixed cost of ₹138/kW (>112 kW) in TN, they would be paying close to ₹18,000 for 130 kW load alone, so If they don't plan their geography well, it's impossible to turn the stations anywhere close to profitable

Clustering issue in the Shell Recharge app

Machine status is OFF due to tripping issue

Gallery

Nameplate of Shell Recharge machine

Shell Recharge machine

Charging in progress 81%

Charging in progress 93%

Charging in progress 97%

Charging at 0.7C at 99th% is the cause for HV Critical issues in Tata EVs

The 2 x 120 kW DC bays as well as the 3 x 3.3 kW AC bays are both chained to avoid other vehicles blocking the charging bay, which definitely need to be learned by other CPOs from Shell station

Deli2Go - Attached restaurant with Shell stations runs 24/7 with 8h x 3 shifts which is perfect location for anyone planning to charge their car and for a coffee/sandwich break and to pick some snacks