BP Chargemaster to install superfast electric car charger network
Company is aiming to have 100 fitted within the year
BP Chargemaster, the UK’s largest provider of electric car charge points, has announced that it will commence installing 400 150kW superfast chargepoints by 2021, with 100 to be in place by the end of this year.
Set to begin in July, the scheme will see the chargers installed as part of the Polar network, which comprises of over 6,500 charging points across the country.
The announcement was made at a BP Chargemaster conference, and stated that these superfast chargers would be installed on BP’s forecourts throughout the UK.
While current ‘rapid’ chargers offer 50kW charge rates, these latest units will provide a far quicker rate of charge. However, many electric vehicles on sale today are unable to accept this higher rate – though the installation of updated charging points future-proofs the network, as new vehicles capable of accepting faster rates arrive on the market.
The new Audi e-Tron, for instance, can accept a 150kW charge, allowing it to charge from 0-80 per cent in around half an hour.
Tesla’s network of superchargers, in contrast, charge at a rate between 120 and 150kW. However, the Californian technology company recently unveiled a system which is capable of dividing a 1MW charge rate between four cars, offering a 250kW rate between the vehicles. It means that 75 miles of charge could be added to a Tesla Model 3 in just five minutes.
