BP Buys Electric Vehicle Charging Company Chargemaster

Oil giant BP has announced that it intends to buy the UK’s biggest electric vehicle charger suppliers Chargemaster.

BP predicts there will be 12 million electric cars on Britain’s roads by 2040, a marked increase from the 135,000 in use last year. The company is betting on a major increase in the use of electric cars across the country over the coming years. The purchase solidifies its position in the EV industry.

Chargemaster will officially change its name to BP Chargemaster and BP will begin installation of Chargemaster points across some of its 1200 locations within the next year. The goal is to have Chargemaster facilities at every BP location.

David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster, 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.”

This is not the first green investment BP have made recently. Last month, it invested $20m in FreeWire Technologies, which makes ultra fast electric vehicle batteries. The batteries reportedly charge an EV in the same time it takes to refuel a gas-powered car.

“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,” said Tufan Erginbilgic, BP’s product and service chief.