Following the purchase of Chargemaster, the UK’s leading electric vehicle (EV) charging company, BP are planning to release a single fuel card suitable for petrol, diesel and electricity purchases at their forecourts.
Now rebranded as BP Chargemaster, the leading fuel providers confirmed a huge rollout of ultra-fast plug-in car chargers, set to be distributed amongst their 1,200 UK service stations in early 2019.
BP Downstream Chief Executive, Tufan Erginbilgic said at the time of the Chargemaster acquisition :
“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.”
Developments of the brand merge seem to be underway, with David Martell, Chief Executive of the now BP Chargemaster, announcing to delegates at the Westminster Energy, Environment and Transport Forum, that one of the main benefits to come of this union is the ability to provide combined fuel cards.
“People who have plug-in hybrids, for instance, can have a card for their company that actually enables them to fill up with petrol as well as recharge their battery.” – David Martell
BP has forecasted an incredible increase in the number of electric vehicles by 2040, projecting around 12 million to be on UK streets, significantly more than the 135,000 vehicles estimated in 2017.
BP also declared their determination to rapidly increasing charger times for electric vehicles, stating their intention to address customer concerns around convenient and ultra-fast charging. The company plan is not only to ensure the local accessibility of charging infrastructure for UK citizens, but also to make sure that these include 150Kw chargers which have the capability to deliver 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes.
Motorists in the UK can expect to gain access to these multi-use fuel cards and the BP Chargemaster chargers at forecourts all within the next 12 months.
For more on electric vehicles:
Lack of public charging points preventing the Electric Revolution in the UK