Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng and BP Pulse, the electric vehicle charging unit of BP (BP.L), have opened their first jointly constructed charging station in Guangzhou, marking a milestone in their strategic partnership to expand EV infrastructure.
The Guangzhou station, which officially opened on June 11, includes 30 charging spots equipped with 50 charging guns, offering a maximum charging power of 480 kW, Xpeng said in a statement on Wednesday. The site is located in Xpeng’s home city and is the first of several collaborative projects between the two companies.
“We will continue to improve the network based on experience gained from this first site,” the company said, adding that three more joint stations are scheduled to open soon in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
The launch follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Xpeng and BP Pulse in January to open up access to each other’s charging networks. At the time, Xpeng said that customers from both firms would be able to use more than 30,000 charging terminals in over 420 cities across China.
Ashwin Sasongko, senior project manager at BP Pulse China, previously said the partnership was intended to “leverage the strengths of both companies to accelerate high-quality charging deployment.”
Xpeng operates over 2,270 self-run charging stations in China, offering more than 12,200 charging ports. The EV maker is also pursuing a broader charging strategy through international partnerships. In January, it signed a separate MoU with Volkswagen Group China to jointly build what it described as one of China’s largest supercharging networks.
Volkswagen invested $700 million in Xpeng in July 2023 and is collaborating with the EV maker on joint vehicle development and infrastructure expansion in the region.
