British multinational oil and gas company BP announced that it is investing $5 million in rapid mobile electric vehicle (EV) chargers.
The company’s venture business BP Ventures is investing the money in FreeWire, a US-based manufacturer of mobile rapid charging systems for EVs, and plans to trial its Mobi Charger units at selected BP retail sites in the UK and Europe during 2018.
The mobile chargers will allow for flexible deployment of charging facilities while building BP’s understanding of the fast-evolving EV market, according to BP.
“Mobility is changing and BP is committed to remaining the fuel retailer of choice into the future,” said Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of BP’s global manufacturing and marketing operations Downstream.
“EV charging will undoubtedly become an important part of our business, but customer demand and the technologies available are still evolving.”
Quick And Cost Effective
The FreeWire chargers allow for providing charging facilities quickly at forecourts where there is the greatest demand, without having to make significant investments in the existing fixed infrastructure, according to Erginbilgic.
“The Mobi Charger can be quickly and cost effectively scaled across vast transportation networks — flexibility that delivers benefits all along the EV charging value chain,” said Arcady Sosinov, CEO of FreeWire.
Erginbilgic said BP is also exploring growing its partnership with FreeWire to provide for charging services away from its service stations.
“BP first worked with FreeWire through the RocketSpace Tech Mobility Accelerator, and we believe its mobile fast charging technology will be one of a number of fuelling options that will be needed to address the future of lower carbon mobility,” said David Gilmour, vice president of BP Ventures.
© 2018 - Checkout Magazine by Kevin Duggan
