BP Pulse agrees EV charger rollout at 70 M&S stores

Marks & Spencer (M&S) and BP Pulse have agreed a plan to bring high-speed electric vehicle (EV) charge points to the M&S store estate across the UK.

The agreement will see M&S and BP Pulse, BP’s electric vehicle charging business, work together to install an initial 900 EV charge points at circa 70 of M&S’s national stores in the next two years.

The roll-out will significantly expand BP Pulse’s network, growing the UK’s charging network and adding up to 40,000 kWhs of charging capacity to the UK’s EV infrastructure.

In order to provide the appropriate speed for each need, a combination of ultra-fast (150kW) and rapid (50kW) charge points will be installed during the roll-out.

Fifteen rapid (50kW) charge points are already live and open to the public at M&S Maidstone Eclipse and Southgate following successful pilot installations.

BP and M&S have a long-standing relationship, first teaming up in 2005 to introduce M&S Food stores at BP retail sites. Over 250 BP Pulse charge points are already available at over 60 BP-operated forecourts which also offer M&S Food.

This new agreement is a major extension of this relationship. Sacha Berendji, director of operations at M&S, said: “At M&S we’re re-shaping the business for sustainable future growth in every sense. From our award-winning Shwopping initiative to our Fill Your Own refill concept, EV charging is the latest feature to ensure we have a store estate fit for the future, to help our customers live lower carbon lives. We know that services like EV charging are in demand from our customers, so we’re delighted to be offering this service and give more reasons for customers to shop with us.”

Akira Kirton, CEO at BP Pulse UK, said: “We aim to provide fast, reliable, and convenient EV charging to our customers that fits in with ‎their busy lifestyles, and so we are excited to extend our relationship with M&S to put high-speed charge points at their stores, growing our network even further.

“This is exactly the kind of collaboration the UK needs to help accelerate the transition to lower-carbon transport and we’re delighted to be working with M&S to make that happen.”

BP Pulse claims to be the most utilised EV charging operator in the UK with its ultra-fast and rapid public EV charging networks. Globally, BP Pulse is expanding its network of high-speed charging for cars, light commercial vehicles, and trucks, supporting BP’s ambition ‎to be a net-zero company by 2050.

BP plans to invest up to £18bn in the UK energy system by 2030. This includes up to £1bn for EV charging infrastructure – a step forward towards BP’s global ambition of having more than 100,000 chargers installed worldwide by 2030.

M&S’s goal is to become net zero by 2040.