Oil giant British Petroleum (BP) just signed a contract with Tesla for $100 million worth of Supercharger charging stations. The move comes as part of BP’s intention to spend $1 billion on EV infrastructure in the USA by 2030. The new charging stations will be a part of BP’s Pulse Network. The sale also bolsters Tesla’s bottom line.
According to BP, this is the very first time that an independent EV charging network provider has purchased Superchargers. The Pulse Network currently consists of some 27,000 charge points across the nation. These new Supercharger units will begin to roll out in 2024 in Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, DC. BP hopes to have 100,000 charge points installed in the USA by 2030.
“Strengthening the BP pulse network with Tesla’s industry-leading hardware is a major step forward in our ambitions for high speed, open access charging infrastructure in the U.S.,” BP Pulse global CEO Richard Bartlett said. The chargers in question have an output of 250 kW and will come with Tesla’s “Magic Dock” which provides connections for NACS and CCS connectors.
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For Tesla, a deal like this is hopefully just the start of a fresh revenue stream. “At Tesla, we are committed to providing exceptional charging experiences for all EV owners,” said Rebecca Tinucci, the automaker’s senior director for charging infrastructure. “Selling our fast-charging hardware is a new step for us, and one we’re looking to expand in support of our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. We appreciate BP’s partnership in this area – it’s the right step towards a more sustainable future.”
Now that so many automakers are making the switch to NACS it makes sense that infrastructure companies might want to simply buy superchargers rather than retrofit their own designs. Of course, pricing will play a key role in that decision.
