BP’s fast electric vehicle (EV) chargers are on the cusp of becoming more profitable than filling up a petrol car, the company’s head of customers and products Emma Delaney told Reuters.
The news agency said the milestone will mark a significant moment for BP which wants to shift away from oil and expand operations in power markets and around electric vehicles.
EV charging has for years been a loss-making business as a whole for BP and the division is not expected to turn profitable before 2025; but on a margin basis, BP’s fast battery charging points, which can replenish a battery within minutes, are nearing levels they see from filling up with petrol.
Delaney told Reuters the company was nearing a place where ”the business fundamentals on the fast charge are better than they are on the fuel”.
“Overall, we see a huge opportunity in fast charging for consumers and businesses, as well as fleet services more generally - that’s where we see the growth, and where we see the margins,” said Delaney.
In 2020 BP reported a gross margins for retail fuel sales of $3.5 billion. Its customers and products division made $2.6 billion in net profit in the first nine months of 2021, around 17% of the company’s total profit.
The company also said that electricity sales for EV charging grew 45% in the third quarter of 2021 from the previous quarter. It plans to grow its EV charging business in the coming years to 70,000 charging points by 2030 from 11,000 now.
No comments yet