BP’s Electric Vehicle Charging Unit Seeks Expansion in US Following Tesla Layoffs
BP Plc‘s (LON: BP) electric vehicle charging arm, BP Pulse Americas, is looking to pick up the slack in the US after Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) laid off its entire Supercharger team. The company has pledged $1 billion to expand its charging network, with plans to install over 3,000 charging points by 2030.
Sujay Sharma, CEO of BP Pulse Americas, told Bloomberg that the company “is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement.”
The move by Tesla has raised concerns about the potential impact on charging infrastructure and EV adoption in North America, where an estimated 400,000 ultra-fast chargers are needed to serve 40 million EVs by 2030.
Sharma also said that they are “actively seeking good talent,” signaling that they may also want to snap up at least some of the over 500 employees that were impacted by the recent Tesla layoffs.
BP Pulse’s expansion plans include building large-scale charging hubs, called Gigahubs, which will feature 12 or more chargers each. The company has already signed a deal to procure approximately $100 million worth of Tesla supercharger hardware, with deployment expected to begin later this year and continue into early 2025.
Other companies in the EV charging industry, such as EVgo Inc. (Nasdaq: EVGO), view Tesla’s slowdown as an opportunity to increase its market share and fill the growth gap left by the electric vehicle maker. EVgo CEO Badar Khan expressed the company’s willingness to hire former Tesla employees and engage with site hosts affected by the layoffs.
Information for this story was found via Bloomberg, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
