Is Shell Ready to Embrace Electric?

It may be one of the biggest oil producing giants on the planet, but even Shell can’t slow down the global movement towards electric cars. Now, the British–Dutch multinational oil and gas company appears to be adopting an “if you can’t beat them join them” philosophy, with chief executive Ben van Beurden admitting to Bloomberg that his next car will be an electric vehicle. While he represents just one British driver, the gesture is yet another sign that the industry is ready to end its reliance on fossil fuels.

"The next buy I do is my next car which will be an electric vehicle," he said. "The whole move to electrify mobility is a good thing."

Oil giants set to embrace green energy

Interestingly, van Beurden’s comments came immediately after he unveiled a big rise in Shell’s second-quarter profits. So, while business is currently booming for Shell the comments confirm that the oil industry is gearing up to embrace the green energy revolution. Technically the oil giant has no choice, with van Beurden openly predicting that oil demand will peak by the early 2030s. His comments also follow the UK’s dramatic pledge to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040 and to replace them with electric or hybrid vehicles.

Shell buys up gas groups

In a bid to prepare itself for the switch Shell has started to buy up gas companies like BG Group, and pledged to spend £766 million a year spending on renewables to actively reduce its reliance on oil. The positive second-quarter profits indicate that the plan is working, with van Beurden maintaining that “Shell’s strong results this quarter show that we are reshaping the company following the integration of BG.”

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