Hello, I’m Tom Riley, and welcome back to The Fast Charge, a British EV newsletter.
Top story in today’s edition... Is bp pulse lining up to go shopping? I take a look, as industry sources suggest Gridserve may be the target.
Elsewhere... European carmakers throttle back, DfT announces new EV funding for fleets, and LOTS of new charge point deployments.
Also this morning… the BBC ran an important segment on EV charging cable theft. I was pleased to be part of it, and great to see Osprey featured too. I’ve uploaded a video of the segment here.
As ever, if you have any comments or feedback, please reply to this email or message me on LinkedIn.
Targets acquired? Oil giant bp lines itself up to invest in UK charging
Summary: The UK boss of bp pulse, the charging network run by the British oil giant, was appointed last week to a bp subsidiary set up to coordinate and invest in its EV charging and wider mobility businesses globally. It comes as bp revealed in its latest annual report this month that the UK is a priority market for EV charging investment.
Bp pulse’s UK manager is Valerio Ferro. He has been at the helm of bp’s charging business in Britain since September 2024, however, it was only last week that he became a director of the UK arm’s significant owner, named BP Advanced Mobility. The latter was set up to manage and invest into EV charging. This change, taken together with bp’s most recent annual report filing, suggests that bp pulse may be on the verge of splashing the cash...
When asked... A spokesperson for the oil giant played down Valerio’s appointment, saying it came as long-serving BP executive Martin Thomsen was stepping back. However, on the possibility of an acquisition, the spokesperson said they wouldn’t comment on market rumour or speculation.
Perhaps it’s a coincidence... However, these corporate moves arrive at a time when many industry insiders believe Gridserve, the motorway-focussed ultra-rapid charging network, may be preparing to get bought out. There are several reasons given as to why this is...
