Oil giant BP has signed a deal to buy the electric vehicle (EV) charging company Chargemaster for £130 million in an “important step” towards rolling out a network of ultra-fast chargers across its forecourts.
Chargemaster operates Polar – the UK’s largest network of public EV chargers. The firm also designs, builds and sells charging units, including for use in homes.
BP Downstream chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic, said: “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.”
The company said the chargers, including 150kW units, will start appearing at its 1,200 service stations in the UK over the next 12 months.
Chargemaster chief executive David Martell, said: “The acquisition of Chargemaster by BP marks a true milestone in the move towards low carbon motoring in the UK.
“I am truly excited to lead the Chargemaster team into a new era backed by the strength and scale of BP, which will help us maintain our market-leading position and grow the national Polar charging network to support the large range of exciting new electric vehicles that are coming to market in the next couple of years.”
The Polar network features over 6,500 chargers and is used by more than 40,000 subscription and pay-as-you-go customers.
Commenting on the story, Erik Fairbairn, the founder and chief executive of charging unit provider Pod Point, said: “The acquisition of Chargemaster by BP is testament to the fact that future of transport is electric. Traditional oil companies know that they cannot afford to ignore this shift from internal combustion engine vehicles.
“At Pod Point we’ve always highlighted how EV technology is advancing so rapidly that within just a few years they will become the natural choice for anyone buying a car. Today’s news shows that this is becoming an increasingly mainstream view.”
Last year, BP announced the purchase of a 43 per cent stake in the solar developer Lightsource for $200 million.