BP pulls plug on 316 public chargers
Plus, Green.TV liquidator takes action against director Ade Thomas
Hello, I’m Tom Riley, and welcome back to The Fast Charge, a British EV newsletter.
Big edition today.
Firstly... A story on BP Pulse’s exit from the AC charging market, which has left hundreds of devices stranded, impacting public bodies, emergency services, and schools.
Secondly... A new twist in the collapse of Green.TV last Autumn, which left £650,000 owed to creditors, as correspondence from the liquidator reveals it is taking action against director Ade Thomas.
Lastly... Used EV sales soar, unclaimed pavement channel funding is redistributed, and nine in ten house hunters want EV charging.
As always, if you have any comments or feedback, please reply to this email or message me on LinkedIn.
BP Pulse’s exit from AC charging market leaves hundreds of organisations with dead machines
Summary: Last week, I wrote about how Warwick had warned drivers that 20 of its EV chargers were no longer working. The chargers in question sat on the BP Pulse network. And I have since learned Warwick is not alone in having its devices switched off. In fact, The Fast Charge has calculated that more than 316 publicly accessible chargers across the UK have been ‘decommissioned’ by BP over the past couple of months, including at hospitals and fire stations.
Why pull the plug? BP Pulse wants to focus solely on deploying rapid and ultra-rapid chargers. They’ve made that clear for a while now. However, what is new is perhaps the urgency behind the scenes in its exit from the AC market. And, based on what I’ve seen, it’s done so without giving organisations much time to make changes.
For some context... 1) AC chargers are slow, or under the new definitions ‘standard’ [3-7kW] or ‘standard plus’ [8-49kW]. 2) This news, as I understand it, is different to the current backlash BP Pulse has faced from B2B customers over its equally speedy exit from workplace schemes. The 316 chargers I’m referring to, which BP Pulse has decommissioned, were all previously public. The reason nobody has noticed is that most sites have already been removed from public maps.
So, what’s happened? Back in Autumn 2025, BP Pulse sent an email to all those who had bought a public charge point from them, explaining that they would soon be ending support for their ‘buyer-funded’ scheme. Under that scheme, chargers bought from BP could gain access to BP Pulse’s public network if organisations paid an annual fee. In return for being on the BP Pulse network, owners of the charger would be passed back any revenue the unit generated from drivers.
In its update to customers... BP Pulse recommended several other operators who could take on the chargers. However, customers were not exactly given much time. BP Pulse initially said they’d end support for all chargers not transferred by 31 December 2025 - so about three months before Christmas. I understand this timeline was ultimately extended well into the first two months of this year, as organisations scrambled to make arrangements with new operators.
According to a list published by BP Pulse... Out of 811 chargers, 495 have been “adopted” by a new operator. Alas, a whopping 316 (which is 39% of the total) are yet to get new owners. As such, these chargers are no longer available. Locations impacted include... hospitals, fire stations, schools, and multiple Aldi and Co-op stores. Large companies, such as Premier Inn, are apparently replacing all their BP Pulse chargers. Find the list here.
One industry source told The Fast Charge... BP could face legal challenges due to the short amount of time given by the oil giant for organisations to switch providers. Another source suggested BP Pulse had overestimated how easy the migration would be to new operators, thinking it could be done remotely when, in fact, engineers have been needed.
When approached about its exit from the AC market... BP Pulse pointed to public pages about the switch. I understand their focus is now firmly on building EV charging hubs and installing EV charging at existing forecourts.
Liquidator takes action against Ade Thomas over Green.TV Media collapse
Summary: The liquidator appointed to investigate the insolvency of Green.TV Media, which left £650,000 in debts owed to taxpayers and suppliers when it collapsed last September, is “taking action against the director” in connection with matters identified during its investigations, according to correspondence seen by The Fast Charge.
For context... Green.TV Media was a well-known EV brand and operated a portfolio of events and campaigns, including World EV Day, Top Women in EV, and the annual EV Summit in Oxford. The director and founder was Ade Thomas, a prominent voice in the UK’s e-mobility sector.
In an email to a creditor last Friday... Arafino Advisory, which is investigating the collapse of the business, of which Thomas was the sole director, wrote:
“I can confirm that our investigations into the affairs of Green TV Media Limited are ongoing. Where appropriate, we are taking action against the director in connection with matters identified during those investigations. However, at this stage, I am unable to provide details of those actions or the underlying issues, as doing so could prejudice potential claims and recovery actions being pursued for the benefit of creditors.”
In response to this update... Ade Thomas told The Fast Charge on Friday that he was “in ongoing conversation with the liquidators to resolve outstanding issues.”
The update comes just weeks after Thomas launched the ‘World EV Forum’ alongside “75 global EV leaders”. The forum’s purpose, according to posts on LinkedIn, is to foster high-level global collaboration aimed at accelerating e-mobility. By being a member, you get access to several platforms previously owned by Green.TV, such as World EV Day, ElectricDrives, and the EV Summit.
After Green.TV entered liquidation, the business’s assets were acquired by Thomas’ new company, ElectricGlobalMedia Limited. There is no suggestion that the asset sale breached insolvency rules. Companies House records show ElectricGlobalMedia Limited was incorporated on 19 September 2025, one day after Thomas signed Green.TV Media’s Statement of Affairs.
The World EV Forum is the second venture launched by Thomas since Green.TV collapsed. The first venture set up by Thomas was a communications agency named better.global, which also advertised the above platforms. Since contacting Thomas ahead of this story, the website for better.global appears to now be offline.
In recent weeks... The Fast Charge has flagged to the liquidator two instances where Thomas’ new websites referenced Companies House and Data Protection registration numbers that linked back to the insolvent Green.TV Media Limited. In both instances, the liquidator has contacted Thomas to remove the references.
In response to this, Ade Thomas told The Fast Charge:
“We are not consciously using Green.TV legal identities. We have been very clear on that. If there are any oversights with links to Green.TV’s Media’s company details or to a shared Data Protection registration number, that will be updated and removed.”
Arafino Advisory has said creditors will be updated in due course, where it is appropriate and permissible to do so.
When I asked Thomas if he wanted to say anything to people who felt let down last year, he did not respond. Instead, he seems to have blocked me on LinkedIn – where we’d exchanged messages about this story – and also, I think, my phone number.
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Latest EV news...
🚗 86,943 used EVs changed hands between the start of January and the end of March, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ latest data has found. That’s a huge 32% increase compared to the same period last year. Read more.
👀 And on that note, Autotrader has reported that ‘electric’ was the most popular fuel type for new cars on its platform for the first time ever in April 2026, taking 29% of all new car enquiries. Autotrader, along with other industry partners, have also updated the ‘Facts’ – which is an EV mythbusting campaign endorsed by DfT. Read more.
🧐 Sticking with Autotrader, in a joint survey with Octopus Electroverse, they have found 88% of fuel drivers said they need more information before making the switch to electric. Read more.
⚡️ And now sticking with Electroverse... They have partnered with MFG EV Power to bring ‘Plug and Charge’ to 95% of its locations. This is currently a rare piece of charging tech but it is a crème de la crème approach all CPOs should aspire to, in this reader’s opinion. Read more.
📊 Reform UK gained control of 12 councils during last week’s election – not to mention 1,454 councillors. This will undoubtedly influence net-zero-related work by those authorities, which includes Havering, Suffolk, and Essex. If you missed it last week, check out my write-up on what it could mean for the EV sector.
👋 James Vickery, who has led ZEV mandate policy since 2020 at DfT, has announced he’s moving on to a new role with the BVRLA.
💔 Talking of the ZEV mandate… If the Prime Minister resigns this week and there is a Labour leadership election, should Wes Streeting become PM, I suspect it’ll be likely that the current Business Secretary, Peter Kyle, becomes Chancellor. In that scenario, I would fully expect the ZEV mandate to be quickly upended due to Kyle’s closeness with manufacturers. One to watch.
👑 Keep your eyes peeled shortly for coverage of the King’s Speech. The BBC has a pretty good summary of what is likely to come, which includes permitted development rights for easier deployment of EV charging. Read more. Or the Government has a summary.
💸 DfT cash that went unclaimed by more than a dozen councils to go towards pavement channels has been redistributed. Hat tip to George Watson, who shared the GOV.UK page last week. See it here.
💷 Talking of accessing cheaper charging, HMRC has updated its guidance on VAT. While it acknowledges the First Tier Tribunal decision, the page writes that the policy remains as before. See here.
🏠 Nine in ten house hunters (93%) list energy solutions like solar panels and EV charging as must-haves, according to a new survey by E.ON. Read more.
🔌 According to a new report by Zapmap and the Green Finance Institute, the energy supply across the public network is keeping pace with its surging growth. Read more. This comes after Zapmap has revealed there are now 120,000 chargers in the UK. Read more.
🤖 Lastly... The UK self-driving car company, Wayve, has signed a new memorandum of understanding with the Department for Business and Trade. Details here. I’m increasingly interested in AVs in the UK. I’m considering putting together a free newsletter – would you read it? If yes, add your email here.