Oil giant passes electric milestone with more than 100 EV chargers installed

Electric vehicle chargers are becoming a more common sight at petrol stations as BP passes its 100-charging point milestone.

One of Australia’s biggest fuel retailers is transforming servos to suit electric cars, with BP revealing it has installed more than 100 vehicle charging points.

The company announced the milestone on Friday, with plans to roll out another 500 charging bays by 2025.

It follows a series of charging investments by state governments and comes after research revealed consumer concerns about the number of chargers were a major speed bump in adopting electric cars.

BP Asia Pacific vice-president Matt Elliott said the company had installed 106 electric charge points at its service stations along the east coast of Australia.

BP Pulse EV-charging locations include servos around Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as regional towns such as Heatherbrae and Nambucca Heads in NSW, Rye and Wangaratta in Victoria, and Nambour and Coomera in Queensland.

“We hope to support Australia’s transition to EVs and break down barriers that may be preventing prospective EV owners to make the switch,” he said.

“Our team has turned strategy into action by rolling out charge points rapidly this year and we’re on the road toward our 2025 target.”

Mr Elliott said the company planned to roll out 600 electric vehicle charging points by the end of 2025, and had partnered with Uber and AGL Energy to provide charging incentives to drivers and members.

Rival fuel provider Ampol has also committed to installing 300 electric car charging points in 100 locations by 2024.

Australian Electric Vehicle Association national president Chris Jones said EV drivers would welcome their commitments to charging infrastructure, particularly at more remote service stations and those situated along major highways.

“Servos are the most logical places for charging infrastructure to be installed because people are used to stopping in these places on trips,” he said.

“I want to see every single servo, especially along regional routes, with DC fast chargers.”

BP’s announcement comes a week after the Queensland and NSW governments announced greater investment in charging infrastructure, with another 500 public chargers to be installed in Queensland over three years and chargers being added to more than 100 NSW apartment blocks.

Electric vehicle chargers were available in almost 2400 locations at the start of 2023, according to the Electric Vehicle Council, but research from Pureprofile recently revealed more than one in three Australians remain concerned there were too few to support the technology.