It's perhaps correct to say the biggest thing holding electric cars back from mainstream acceptance is the lack of charging points. For sure, range anxiety also has a big part to play, but that concern would at least be partly overcome if charging facilities were more widespread. Thankfully, we may be seeing greater support for EV cars soon, as DeSmogBlog has confirmed that Shell, of all companies, is looking at adding charging points to complement its gas station pumps.

As uncovered through a Freedom of Information request by the British arm of the blog, Shell has been in talks with the UK government about details regarding EV vehicle uptake and the creation of new charging infrastructure. Though Shell's dialogue didn't explicitly state such a course will be set, the inquiries into aspects such as wireless charging capabilities and whether or not Shell would require an electricity supplier licence in order to operate its own charging points all suggests the oil company is heavily considering EV-friendly facilities at its gas stations.

Of course, we do need to stress that these are only behind-the-scenes discussions that are looking at the possibility of setting up charging points, and shouldn't be taken as concrete evidence that Shell will be expanding its refuelling repertoire to include topping up the battery packs in EVs. However, knowing that a large oil company is heavily considering such a venture should be something everyone takes notice of. It's still too early to say what will result of this, but hopefully we'll see Shell setting up charging points sooner rather than later - with other big gas providers jumping on that bandwagon shortly after.