Shell and other companies such as EDF in France and Statkraft in Norway are investing in EV charging infrastructure to take advantage of the growing demand for EVs.

Volta is the second electric vehicle charging company in the US to be acquired by Shell, following its acquisition of Greenlots in 2019. Volta currently operates 3,050 charging stations in 31 US states and Europe. According to a press release, the company plans to install 3,400 more charging stations in the future, though no specific timeline was given.

Volta went public in 2021 with an initial value of about $2 billion and was backed by companies like BlackRock and Vanguard. Shell is buying the electric vehicle charging station operator for $169 million in cash, an amount that represents 86 cents per share, 18% more than Volta's closing price on the day the deal was announced. The companies expect to complete the acquisition in the first half of this year.

With the acquisition of Volta, Shell USA will own over 57,000 charging stations and is also working on other alternative energy projects, such as offshore wind farms in New Jersey.

"In order to reach its 2050 climate neutrality target, the EU is introducing measures to reduce emissions from cars, as road transport accounts for a fifth of the EU's CO2 emissions. This indirectly supports the growth of electromobility, but it also brings new challenges outside the energy sector. It is important not to underestimate the challenges ahead to make electromobility a truly effective tool to achieve sustainability and carbon neutrality."

-Olga Kaizar, Deloitte ESG Leader