BP buys Britain's leading EV charging company
Thu 28 June 2018
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Energy major BP is buying Chargemaster, the UK's largest electric vehicle charging company, in the latest in a string of acquisitions by major oil companies in the low emissions vehicle sector.
BP will pay about £130m for Chargemaster which has more than 6,500 charging points across the UK. It's reported that BP Chargemaster will operate as a wholly owned BP entity.
Reports suggest that customers will see the new chargers on BP forecourts over the next 12 months.
Tufan Erginbilgic, BP’s downstream chief executive officer, said (reported by Bloomberg): “We want to have the leading position in the UK, whatever fuel choice our customers have. We will learn in the UK and we will take this model to other markets, and that’s part of our strategy.”
BP says it aims to reduce the amount of time it takes to recharge a vehicle battery. It plans to “shortly” make available 150 kilowatt chargers with the capability of charging a car in 10 minutes and giving it around 100-mile range.
Another BP spokesman, David Nichols,said (reported by the BBC): "We have no doubt that the electric vehicle market is growing and will become a significant part of the transport sector in future.
"Chargemaster is a leader in the UK market. We want to learn from them, and eventually, yes, grow the business worldwide."
Chargemaster was founded in 2008 and runs the POLAR network, the largest public charging network in the UK. It has more than 40,000 customers, some of whom pay a monthly subscription.
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