With a world increasingly going green and slowly moving away from fossil fuels, diversification has become necessary for multi-national oil and gas companies in order to secure the future. With electric mobility solutions providing the most potential on the automotive front, it’s no surprise to see significant movement in that arena.
Buying an existing infrastructure is the easiest – and fastest – way to tap in to the market, and so it’s no suprise to see acquisitions picking up on this front. The latest is by British oil giant BP, which is set to purchase Chargemaster, the operator of the UK’s largest electric vehicle charging network. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Chargemaster, which has 6,500 charging points across the UK, will be renamed BP Chargemaster following the conclusion of the deal. Its extensive EV charging network will be combined with BP’s 1,200 service stations, widening access to EV charging.
Founded in 2008, Chargemaster is involved in the development of EV charging points from design and build to sales and operation. Its POLAR public charging network is used by 40,000 customers. Under its new name, the fully-owned BP subsidiary will roll out an ultra-fast charging infrastructure, including 150 kW chargers capable of delivering 160 km of operating range in just 10 minutes.
The purchase follows on competitor Royal Dutch Shell’s acquisition of EV charging provider New Motion in October last year. Unlike the BP and Chargemaster deal, New Motion is operating its network in parallel to Shell’s programme of fast charging points at its own stations, doing so by providing charging facilities at the workplace and homes.
Dutch-based New Motion was founded in 2009 and currently has more than 100,000 registered charge card users on the Continent. It manages over 30,000 EV charging points in Western Europe and also offers access to another 50,000 partner locations.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Either wanna tap the market or control how it runs. Other oil companies too have bought out these EV charging providers. Perhaps they can be more transparent with where they get the power from, fossil fuel or renewables.