BP Plus expands public EV charging options in Australia – Dubai Car News

British oil and gas giant BP has officially launched its fast electric car charging network in Australia, giving EV drivers another option to top up on the go.

BP Pulse is now live with three sites – each with a charger – at Diamond Creek, Brighton East Bayside Gateway in Melbourne, and Caboolture sitting between North Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

It aims to roll out around 600 “fast, reliable chargers” across Australia that are prominently placed with its fuel service stations near food facilities, but has stopped short of giving a definitive timeline. has been given.

Initially, EV charging infrastructure will be installed at key metropolitan and regional BP locations along the East Coast.

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The company uses the latest modular Tritium PKM fast charging units. It currently generates 75kW DC, but promises to upgrade existing and new chargers to 150kW DC in 2023 when they are connected to a higher power grid.

Additionally, BP plans to upgrade to a 350kW DC speed within the next two years, which will better take advantage of ultra-rapid charging capable EV models such as the Kia EV6, Tesla Model Y and Porsche Taycan.

Brisbane-based stations offer CCS2 and CHAdeMO plugs that can charge both vehicles at the same time. Although, it is worth noting that the maximum charging speed during power sharing will be limited to each module – 50kW for CCS2 and 25kW for CHAdeMO on the current 75kW DC setup.

BP Plus stations cost $0.55 per kWh, but are initially free. But according to one user Plug share, a fee is already being charged at the Diamond Creek location. EV owners need to download the BP Plus mobile app to activate the charging session.

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For context, 50kW DC fast chargers from Chargefox and Evie Networks are mostly priced at $0.40 per kWh or 350kW DC ultra-rapid chargers at $0.60 per kWh.

BPEV is the second fuel major to enter the charging infrastructure game, after Ampol launched its AmpCharge network in August. AmpCharge uses a 150kW DC station that costs $0.60 per kWh.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s exclusive 150kW or 250kW Supercharging network costs $0.68 or $0.69 per kilowatt hour depending on location with higher accommodation fees.

Initially, BP Plus will use electricity from the grid, although it will offset carbon emissions for each kWh by purchasing certificates invested in renewable energy projects.

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“We will be on the journey with them. [customers] BP Australia president Frederic Baudry said this decade and beyond will have great retail options with an increasing number of fast, reliable chargers in convenient locations, whether they want to eat, drink or shop.

The fuel major has also partnered with BOC Gas to build a public hydrogen refueling site for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) at the BP truck stop in the Port of Brisbane.

BP aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It will reduce oil and gas production by 40 percent by 2030.

Founded in 2008 and formerly called BP Chargemaster and Polar, BP Pulse already supplies more than 9,000 charging points in the UK with home AC wall boxes and DC public chargers.