Oil giant BP launches EV charging brand, plans 600 stations across Australia

Oil giant bp has launched its electric vehicle charging brand, bp pulse, kicking off its ambitious to install around 600EV charging points around Australia.

Global CEO Bernard Looney flew in for the opening of a new bp pulse fast charger at bp Brayside at Brighton East in Melbourne, which follows the recent opening of charging sites at Diamond Creek in Victoria and Caboolture in Queensland.

“It’s brilliant to get bp pulse underway in Australia, delivering a high-speed, high-quality charging experience to help accelerate the transition to electric vehicles,” Loomey said.

“Australia’s ambition is to be a renewable energy superpower and this is just one of the ways we are backing the country that has backed bp for more than a century.”

The initial rollout will see chargers installed at key metropolitan and regional bp retail locations along Australia’s east coast. For a faster roll-out, the initial sites are those with the best available power supplies, with later ones waiting on the cumbersome (and resultantly slow) supply upgrade process from local network providers.

For interstate and regional travellers, the DC fast chargers will be located at existing roadhouses as they have pre-existing convenience stores providing coffee, toilets and often a wide range of foods for the traveller.

With the inclusion of suburban sites (like the Bayside Melbourne, where the ceremony was held) the convenience of a 5 or 10 minute stop to top-up is a boon for getting potential new EV drivers over the line to buying one, as it provides the backstop of a fuel-station for those (rare) moments when overnight home charging may have been forgotten.

The chargers being used for the Australian, New Zealand and UK networks are also being sourced from Australian DC charger builder, Tritium.

These new chargers are fitted with both CCS2 and CHAdeMO plugs which can charge simultaneously. Currently charging at 75kW per side, by 2023 they will be enabled to charge at speeds up to 150kW a side. (For cars with 150kW or greater DC charging capacity – this will provide 100km charged in under 10 minute).

“The electrification of mobility is part of bp’s commitment to becoming a net zero company by 2050.  bp supports broader measures to reach net zero, including 43% emissions reduction by 2030,” bp said in its statement.

Access to the system is via the specific bp pulse App, with free charging access at the new site for the next few weeks. Once free charging ends, a standard kWh pricing will apply. Currently this is 55c/kWh.