BP’s electric charging unit is set to ramp up its presence in the United States following Tesla’s decision to disband its EV charging team, the oil company announced on Thursday. This move by BP reflects its commitment to bolstering its network amidst Tesla’s strategic shift.
“We are aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement,” a spokesperson for BP stated. The company outlined its priority regions for expansion, including the north-east, the Sun Belt, the west coast, and the Great Lakes region.
Tesla’s decision to downsize its EV charging team, led by CEO Elon Musk, raises questions about the future of its Supercharger network expansion. Musk clarified that while Tesla plans to continue expanding the Supercharger network, the pace of new location installations will be slower.
BP had previously announced plans in February last year to invest $1 billion in EV charging stations across the United States by 2030. In a significant move last October, BP placed an order for Tesla’s fast chargers worth $100 million. However, the company has since reduced its electric vehicle charging workforce by over a tenth and exited several markets after its bet on rapid growth in commercial EV fleets did not yield the expected results, according to company sources.
The 250-kilowatt BP Pulse-branded chargers will support both Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) and the Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors, enabling the charging of EV models from various carmakers. The adoption of Tesla’s NACS by other automakers is seen as a significant trend, potentially edging Tesla’s superchargers closer to becoming the industry standard, possibly at the expense of the rival CCS.
