BP has announced plans to invest $1 billion into developing charging infrastructure in the United States by 2030. As part of this investment, the company will construct charging facilities at Hertz car rental locations, with the goal of creating a fast-charging network that spans the entire country. The move is part of BP’s broader strategy to expand its charging infrastructure globally, with a goal of having more than 100,000 charging points worldwide by 2030.
The partnership with Hertz is particularly significant, as the car rental company is steadily expanding its electric vehicle (EV) fleet. At the turn of the year, Hertz had 48,344 Tesla vehicles in its range alone – almost all of them in the US. The partnership between BP and Hertz will be supported by telematics data from the networked Hertz fleet, which will help to identify the locations where charging infrastructure is most needed.
See also: Hertz adds 65,000 Polestar car to its electric vehicle fleet
In addition to the charging facilities at Hertz locations, BP is also planning to build “gigahubs” in high-demand locations such as airports, which will serve rideshare and taxi drivers, car rental customers, and the general public. The first of these large fast-charging locations is to be built at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in collaboration with Hertz, although the partners have not yet disclosed the exact number of planned connections.
The announcement comes alongside the US government’s final requirements for eligible charging infrastructure, which includes an agreement with Tesla on Supercharger eligibility. Hertz is reportedly aiming to provide 50,000 of the 100,000 electric cars it ordered from Tesla in 2021 to Uber drivers in the US, with plans to rent another 25,000 electric cars to Uber drivers in European capitals, including models from Tesla and Polestar. The car rental company had also contracted Polestar to supply up to 65,000 electric cars, and placed another order for up to 175,000 electric cars with General Motors.
See also: Volkswagen and BP plan to expand their electric charging partnership to other regions
Despite the infrastructure ramp-up, the integration of electric cars does not seem to be going entirely smoothly, as Hertz has not yet received even half of the 100,000 electric cars it ordered from Tesla. However, the car rental company is still pursuing its goal of equipping a quarter of its fleet with electric vehicles by the end of 2024. The partnership with BP is an important step towards achieving this goal, and will help to make EVs more accessible to customers across the country.
