BP is Looking to Fill Any Gaps Left by Tesla Supercharger Team's Upheaval
Though Tesla’s future and growth prospects remain to be seen, other companies sense blood in the water after the automaker laid off its entire Supercharger team. British Petroleum (BP) Pulse recently told Bloomberg that it would aggressively pursue an expansion of its charging network with a “heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement.”
BP’s EV charging business aims to gain ground on the automaker as it cancels some planned charging sites. Recent reports show that Tesla nixed a handful of Supercharger locations in New York, though it’s unclear how the layoffs and business plans will affect other future sites.
The oil giant previously reported its plans to invest more than $1 billion to expand its network in partnership with Love’s Travel Stops and Pilot-Flying J. It has also ordered tens of millions of dollars worth of Tesla Superchargers, though it will manage them independently of the automaker.
Other charging companies are eying expansions to fill any gaps left in the wake of Tesla’s upheaval. EVGo’s CEO said his organization would look to “pick up some of the slack” that the company leaves behind, and others have looked to take over Tesla’s canceled charging locations.
Even if Tesla’s charging network floats on relatively unchanged, it’s clear others see an opportunity and aren’t willing to wait and see how its fortunes unfold. That said, the Supercharger network is widely regarded as one of the nation’s best, so there’s no way to know if new locations from outside entities will offer anything near the same experience as they grow.
[Image: Richard OD via Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Makes perfect sense. Petroleum companies are the ones who have the most to lose from people switching to EVs. Every one sold is a car they don't get to sell fuel for anymore. Might as well cater to those customers too.
At some point, petroleum companies would be wise to make the swtich from selling gas to selling ENERGY, and one of those energies could be electricity. Good business is where you find it, guys.
I'm starting to wonder about Elon....again!!
I see a parallel with Henry Ford who was the wealthiest industrialist at one time. Henry went off on a tangent with the peace ship for WWI, Ford TriMotor, invasive social engineering, etc. Once the economy went bad, the focus fell back to cars.
Elon became one of the wealthiest industrialist in the 21st century. Then he went off with the space venture, boring holes in the ground venture, "X" (formerly Twitter), etc, etc, etc. Once Tesla hit a plateau and he realized his EVs were a commodity, he too is focused on his primary money making machine.
Yet, I feel Elon is over reacting. Down sizing is the nature of the beast in the auto industry; you can't get around that. But hacking the Super Charger division is like cutting off your own leg. IIRC, GM and Ford were scheduled to sign on to the exclusive Tesla charging format. That would have doubled or tripled his charging opportunity. I wonder what those at the Renaissance Center and the Glass House are thinking now. As alluded to, there's blood in the water and other charging companies will fill the void.
I believe other nations have standardized EV charging (EU & China). Elon had the chance to have his charging system as the default in North America. Now, he's dropped the ball. He's lost considerable influence on what the standardized format will eventually be. Tremendous opportunity lost. 🚗🚗🚗