(Alliance News) - BP PLC on Wednesday said it is investing USD1 billion in electric vehicle charging stations across the US by 2030.
The London-based oil major said this will help Estero, Florida-based vehicle rental firm Hertz Corp to meet its expanding EV rentals target. The investment aims to bring fast charging infrastructure to Hertz locations in major cities such as Austin, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, DC, though it didn't say how many new stations the programme would deliver.
BP explained: "A number of the fast-charging installations will include gigahubs locations. These are large-scale fast charging hubs, such as one location previously announced by bp and Hertz at Los Angeles International Airport. The hubs will serve rideshare and taxi drivers, car rental customers and the general public at high-demand locations, such as airports. The build-out will be informed by telematics from Hertz's fleet of connected cars."
BP said it currently has 22,000 EV charge points globally and aims for more than 100,000 by 2030. It didn't say how many of these are in the US.
On Wednesday, the US government announced that Tesla Inc has agreed to make at least 7,500 of its EV chargers nationwide open to non-Tesla vehicles by the end of 2024. The administration of US President Joe Biden has set out plans to add 500,000 EV chargers across the country by 2030.
bp shares were 0.6% lower at 556.20 pence each in London on Thursday morning. Tesla shares were up 1.2% at USD216.83 in the New York pre-market.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.