The largest oil and gas conglomerate, BP, is the first company to buy $100 million of Tesla’s Supercharger hardware. The purchase marks the first for a company to buy DC charging equipment from the automaker to use in a third-party charging network.
The sale will benefit the company’s EV charging division, BP Pulse, which intends to invest up to $1 billion, with $500 million coming in the next two to three years, to construct a nationwide charging network by 2030.
The equipment manufactured by Tesla has a maximum charging power of 250kW and a Magic Dock connector that can be used with either a CCS combo attachment compatible with most other EVs or Tesla’s standardized North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug.
The roll-out is planned to begin in 2024, and locations will include key sites across the BP family of brands, including TravelCenters of America, Thorntons, and Amoco. BP Pulse also plans to install the chargers at third-party locations, such as Hertz rental car sites in Washington, DC, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
BP Pulse has currently installed 27,000 charging stalls and says it plans to erect more than 100,000 worldwide by 2030. In the past, the company has bought charging devices from Tritium, including ones with a 50kW or 150kW capacity.
The version of software used by BP’s Tesla Superchargers is called Omega, and it differs from the automaker’s system. Without requiring a card tap or app activation, Omega supports Plug-and-Charge protocols and can supervise charging for fleet operators such as Hertz. Simply plug in an electric vehicle, and the electricity is automatically charged to the driver’s account.
