BP to acquire the UK’s largest electric vehicle charging company

BP announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Chargemaster, the UK’s largest electric vehicle (EV) charging company. Chargemaster operates the UK’s largest public network of EV charging points, with more than 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.

“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, 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.”

The number of EVs on the road is anticipated to increase rapidly in coming decades. By 2040 BP estimates that there will be 12 million EVs on UK roads, up from around 135,000 in 2017.

The development of convenient and innovative EV charging technologies and networks is a key part of BP’s strategy to advance the energy transition. BP is committed to developing new offers to meet changing customer demand and growing new businesses and supporting opportunities for customers to reduce their emissions.

BP believes that to accelerate the adoption of EVs, customers will require convenient access to fast and ultra-fast charging. BP’s UK retail network is well positioned to provide this access with more than 1,200 service stations across the country. 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. BP customers in the UK can expect to access BP Chargemaster chargers on forecourts over the next 12 months.

Founded in 2008, Chargemaster runs POLAR, the largest public charging network in the UK. The POLAR network now includes more than 6,500 public charging points. The company has more than 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.

“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,” David Martell, chief executive of Chargemaster said.

Upon completion of the transaction, Chargemaster employees will continue to be employed by BP Chargemaster or its subsidiaries. BP Chargemaster will operate as a wholly owned BP entity.