Volkswagen and BP charge your electric car: what are the chances of the “network” reaching Romania

VW high-speed charging points are installed at 8,000 BP petrol stations in Europe.

Volkswagen and BP plan to deepen their European electric charging partnership and could expand it to other regions and technologies, said the executives of both companies.

The comments reflect the growing efforts of carmakers and energy companies, including utilities and oil companies, to expand the charging infrastructure of electric vehicles and to address the issue of autonomy anxiety that still limits demand.

To address the issue, both groups plan to jointly install 8,000 150 kW Flexpole fast charging units from VW across Europe by 2024, in an agreement that BP will install the chargers in its network of gas stations.

The first phase of the launch will have up to 4,000 charging points at BP Aral refueling stations in Germany and BP retail sites in the UK over the next 24 months.

The loader locations will be integrated into the navigation and other in-car applications of VW, Seat and Skoda vehicles, as well as in the VW, Elli charging application. The chargers will be available to any EV driver.

A step forward for electric cars

“There are so many areas where we are complementary,” VW Group CEO Herbert Diess told reporters at an event in Duesseldorf, revealing the first electric vehicle charging stations for European cooperation.

“BP has a very strong network in many parts of the world. So it means that what we do here can be done elsewhere, ”said Diess, adding that BP could also be a strong partner in charging electric trucks.

BP CEO Bernard Looney said the charging network will be open to other brands, a key differentiator for the Tesla Compressor Network, which has begun to open up to rivals but is still accessible only to Tesla drivers in many markets.

“Five hundred and fifty million people live within 20 minutes of a BP site,” Looney said, adding that this provided the scale needed to launch electric chargers to a higher level.

“The thing I like about partnerships is that we can make coolants together, we can do energy, electrification, hydrogen and all that,” he said. “We will do things together in 3-4 years that we never imagined existed today.”

VW also has European charging cooperation with Enel in Italy and Iberdrola in Spain, with Diess saying there will be an update on the Iberdrola alliance soon.