BP buys UK’s largest electric vehicle charging network
The deal marks the increasing consolidation in the supply of EV charging technology and follows Shell’s move to buy New Motion which has 30,000 charging points across Europe.
In contrast Chargemaster has over 6,500 charging points across the country in its Polar network. It also designs, builds, sells and maintains the EV charging units for a wide range of locations, including for home charging. Back in January BP invested $5m in FreeWire Technologies which manufactures mobile EV rapid charging systems.
“Bringing together the UK’s leading fuel retailer and its largest charging company, BP Chargemaster will deliver a truly differentiated offer for the country’s growing number of electric vehicle owners,” said Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of BP Downstream. “At BP we believe that fast and convenient charging is critical to support the successful adoption of electric vehicles. Combining BP’s and Chargemaster’s complementary expertise, experience and assets is an important step towards offering fast and ultra-fast charging at BP sites across the UK and to BP becoming the leading provider of energy to low carbon vehicles, on the road or at home.”
By 2040 BP estimates that there will be 12 million EVs on UK roads, up from around 135,000 last year. BP has 1200 forecourts in the UK, 300 owned by the company with 70 charging points, and the rest owned and operated independently. It believes that to accelerate the adoption of EVs, customers will require convenient access to fast and ultra-fast charging, including 150kW rapid chargers capable of delivering 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes.
BP Chargemaster chargers will roll out on forecourts over the next 12 months. Upon completion of the deal, Chargemaster employees will continue to be employed by BP Chargemaster or its subsidiaries. BP Chargemaster will operate as a wholly-owned BP entity.
BP is also working on the joint development of electric technologies with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, and is investing in Chinese company NIO Capital to explore joint opportunities in advanced mobility solutions as well as a $20m investment in ultra-fast lithium battery company StoreDot.
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- GERMAN SMART BATTERY MAKER RAISES €60M FROM SHELL
- BP IN TALKS TO INSTALL CHARGING POINTS IN UK PETROL STATIONS
- SHELL SHIFTS STRATEGY AS IT ROLLS OUT ITS FIRST EUROPEAN CHARGING STATIONS
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