Shell reportedly manufactures e-scooters, battery banks, and other non-gas products.
Maybe it’s the answer to climate change?
Shell, best known for providing fuel to fill your automobile, is attempting to diversify into other modes of transportation, such as manufacturing electric scooters. That’s right, instead of driving to the red and yellow mollusc on one of your town’s outskirts for a fossil fuel fill-up, you can simply ride beside it on a battery-powered Shell Ride scooter.
Shell is not the one that constructs and sells them. Rather, the petroleum corporation licensed its name to Lotus International, a US-based manufacturer, last year, which gave rise to Shell Ride-branded e-scooters and e-bikes. Lotus also handles marketing, such as creating an unboxing video for its $549.99 Shell Ride SR-5S Electric Scooter, which has a range of up to 20 miles and a top speed of 15mph.
The business is also developing a slower and smaller scooter (SR-4S) and a more adaptable scooter with a removable battery pack (SR-6S), both of which will retail for $499.99 and $799.99, respectively, although neither is yet available. Shell Ride e-bikes are also in the works, with prices ranging from $1,199.99 to $1,899.99.
Shell has put its branding on a variety of consumer devices, including portable power banks that can charge with both USB-C and traditional Micro USB, as well as items that feel more on-brand, such as lead acid battery chargers.
So, at the very least, Shell is experimenting — or perhaps it is preparing itself. Shell is already being compelled by Dutch courts to reduce its carbon footprint by nearly half by 2030. And, as worldwide carbon-emissions restrictions tighten, more oil businesses will be forced to adapt to tackle climate change this decade. Shell realizes she’s playing the self-aware wolf here. It also sells electric car charging devices.