On Thursday, BP announced it will purchase Chargemaster, the company that runs the largest public charging network, which includes 6,500 charging stations, in the United Kingdom. BP photo.
Chargemaster operates over 6,500 charging points across the UK
BP announced on Thursday that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Chargemaster, an electric vehicle charging company based in the United Kingdom.
Chargemaster operates the UK’s largest public network of EV charging points, with over 6,500 across the country. It also designs, builds, sells and maintains EV charging units for a wide range of locations, including for home charging.
“The acquisition of Chargemaster by BP marks a true milestone in the move towards low carbon motoring in the UK,” said David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster.
Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive, BP Downstream, said “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”.
BP says it believes fast and convenient charging is critical to the successful adoption of EVs.
“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.”
According to BP estimates, there will be 12 million EVs on UK roadways by 2040, up significantly from 135,000 in 2017.
The company says developing convenient and innovative EV charging technologies and networks is key to its strategy to advance the energy transition.
In order to ease range anxiety and accelerate the adoption of EVs, customers need convenient access to fast and ultra-fast charging. BP says with over 1,200 service stations across the country, its retail network is well positioned to provide this access.
A key priority for BP Chargemaster will be the rollout of ultra-fast charging infrastructure, including 150kW rapid chargers capable of delivering 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes.
The company says customers in the UK can expect to access BP Chargemaster chargers on forecourts over the next 12 months.
Chargemaster runs POLAR, the largest public charging network in the UK, including over 6,500 public charging points. The company has over 40,000 customers of its POLAR network, of which an increasing number choose to pay a monthly subscription, and the remainder access on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Chargemaster is also a leading supplier of home charging points across the UK and has strong links with car manufacturers, as the charging partner for a number of car brands in the UK.
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