UK: West Midlands to add over 100 AC charge points

In the UK, the West Midlands will get a boost to its electric vehicle infrastructure, following Warwickshire County Council’s award of a £584,000 contract to BP pulse. The former BP Chargemaster will install over 100 charge points across the region.

In concrete terms, Warwickshire County Council ordered 118 new 7.4kW charging points. They expect bp pulse to complete installation in council-owned car parks and on-street locations by March 2021. Communities across North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick will benefit from the new slow chargers.

Citizens will pay through the BP pulse network on either a pay-as-you-go or membership basis, and the Council says it hopes to “benefit from maintenance and user support from one of the UK’s largest charging infrastructure providers.”

The rollout follows a successful bid to the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) for £412,500, run by the federal Office for Zero-Emission Vehicles. They will fund up to 75% of the cost, with match funding provided by bp pulse to cover the remaining cost.

Matteo de Renzi, CEO of BP pulse, said: “We are proud to work with Warwickshire County Council to help enable more drivers to make the switch to electric, importantly including those without access to off-street parking at home. This partnership is a great example of private and public sector collaboration, and of our commitment to helping local authorities develop charging infrastructure that meets the needs of their communities, contributing to reducing local emissions and improving air quality.”

Cllr Heather Timms, portfolio holder for heritage, culture and the environment at Warwickshire County Council, emphasized the county’s aim of being carbon neutral by 2030. “The shift towards electric vehicles is integral to that,” he added.

BP pulse was formerly known as BP Chargemaster after the petrochemical company bought the Chargemaster network and now also includes Polar. They claim to have supplied over 70,000 public, workplace and home charging units so far and is now rolling out 150kW ultra-rapid chargers on bp retail sites.

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