Shell has put a large-scale electric vehicle (EV) charging station into operation in China as the world's largest gasoline retailer continues its transformation. Shell put into operation an EV charging station 2.5 kilometers from the Shenzhen airport terminal, offering 258 public fast-charging terminals.

This is Shell's largest EV charging station in the world and will be able to charge more than 3,300 EVs per day during the trial period, the company said.

The station is operated by a joint venture between Shell and BYD. The two entered into a charging partnership in March 2022 to develop an EV charging network in China. In addition to charging, the station also offers retail, coffee, dining, and lounge services, according to Shell.

The station has solar panels on the roof and generates 300,000 kWh of electricity annually, all of which will be used to charge customers' vehicles, the company said.

As of the first half of the year, Shenzhen had 860,000 new energy vehicles (NEVs), the city government said in a WeChat post today. The city is home to the headquarters of BYD, China's largest NEV maker.

Shenzhen is accelerating the construction of supercharging stations, and the city is expected to have 300 supercharging stations by 2025, with that number rising to 1,000 by 2030, according to the post.

BYD and Shell signed a global strategic partnership agreement on March 23, 2022, in which the two plan to kick off their partnership in China and Europe first, with plans to expand that partnership globally, BYD said at the time.