March 1 (UPI) — British energy company BP on Wednesday announced that it teamed up with a vehicle parking group to deploy 100 new fast-charging stations across the European continent and in the United Kingdom.
BP Pulse, the company’s charging station arm, joined APCOA Parking Group in a framework agreement for developments in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland and Britain.
The partners are planning so-called Urban Hubs — charging stations at APCOA car parks — in those locations over the next three years.
“By working with APCOA, we’re bringing the future of parking, charging and services for urban life in one place,” said Stefan von Dobschuetz, the general manager for BP Pulse in Europe.
BP already has an established footprint in European EV charging networks. Working with APCOA, it expects to have the first two hubs of the program in service in Germany by the third quarter.
In North America, full-service fueling operators TravelCenters of America will move under the umbrella of BP as part of a $1.3 billion cash offer.
While servicing mostly vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine, BP said it envisions offering everything from EV charging stations, renewable natural gas and possibly hydrogen as alternative fuels at TravelCenters of America.
“By enabling growth in EV charging, biofuels and RNG and later hydrogen, we can help our customers decarbonize their fleets,” BP CEO Bernard Looney said. “It’s a compelling combination.”
For Europe, charging networks are expanding ahead of a 2035 ban on new vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine. The Pew Research Forum finds Europe is already the fastest-growing market for electric vehicle sales, posting an annual growth rate of 60% in the four years ending in 2020. That compared with a 17% growth rate in the United States.
All told, BP aims to have more than 100,000 public EV charging stations in service worldwide by 2030.