Shell Recharge — Europe's largest EMSP, plus forecourt DC

Shell Recharge is the merged product of Shell's existing charging activities and NewMotion, the Dutch EMSP Shell acquired in 2017. The brand is one of Europe's largest EMSPs by user-count — many EV drivers across north-west Europe carry a Shell Recharge card as their primary roaming product — and the physical-CPO side has been growing fast since the rebrand, particularly at Shell fuel-station forecourts.

On data feeds, Shell Recharge appears under several legal entities (Shell Recharge, Shell Recharge Solutions B.V., the original NewMotion / The New Motion B.V. names that some publishers still emit). Plugsquare groups them all into one Shell Recharge operator card.

Shell Recharge as an EMSP

The EMSP side is Shell Recharge's biggest product. A Shell Recharge card (or app account) works at hundreds of charging networks across Europe — most public AC, most public DC outside Tesla — at a published tariff. For users in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, it's commonly the default primary because of the network breadth and the simple one-bill experience.

As an EMSP, Shell Recharge competes most directly with Plugsurfing, ChargePoint, Chargemap, and EnBW mobility+. Pricing sits in the middle of that pack — not the cheapest, but with one of the broadest roaming coverage maps. For long-distance European travel where you'd cross multiple networks, the Shell Recharge tariff is usually predictable enough that you can plan a trip without worrying about per-network markup variations.

Shell Recharge as a CPO

On the physical-charger side, Shell Recharge operates a growing network of fast-charging sites — typically at Shell fuel-station forecourts, where the brand can co-locate with the fuel business. DC dispensers at these sites are usually 175 kW or higher, with a mix of CCS and CHAdeMO (the latter being phased out network-wide). Outside the forecourts, Shell Recharge runs a substantial AC and DC footprint inherited from NewMotion, particularly in the Netherlands.

The Recharge canopies are recognisable: Shell's standard fuel-station shell extended over the dispensers, with the Recharge branding on the dispenser face. Most sites are 24/7 access, on-site convenience-store and toilet facilities, and well-lit. The combination of fuel-station amenities + DC charging is part of the brand's identity vs. pure-canopy operators like Fastned.

Pricing — direct vs. roaming

Charging at Shell Recharge sites via the Shell Recharge app gives you the direct tariff, which is competitive with other premium European HPC networks. Roaming into Shell Recharge sites via another EMSP (Plugsurfing, Chargemap, etc.) usually costs more — as with every CPO, the direct app saves you 5–10 ¢/kWh.

Roaming OUT of Shell Recharge — i.e. using your Shell Recharge card at someone else's network — works across most of Europe at a published EMSP tariff. The tariff is moderately higher than the network's own direct price but is consistent across hundreds of networks, which is the convenience trade-off.

Alternatives

If you're picking between Shell Recharge and another EMSP card, the alternatives are: ChargePoint (cross-continent compatibility), Plugsurfing (deep carmaker integrations), Chargemap (best in France), EnBW mobility+ (best in Germany and Austria, broad roaming list), and Maingau Auto-Strom (popular German flat tariff). For physical Shell Recharge sites near you, the Shell Recharge app is the cheapest route.