welcom to America today with a new article about BP Looking to Buy Tesla’s US Supercharger Sites
BP’s electric charging unit is keen on buying Tesla’s Supercharging sites in the United States, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.
BP “is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement,” the report quoted Sujay Sharma, CEO of bp pulse Americas, as saying in an interview.
Tesla and BP did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The development comes days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk abruptly laid off employees who ran the electric vehicle charging business, but said the automaker still plans to expand the Supercharger network at a slower pace for new locations.
BP said in February last year that it planned to invest $1 billion in EV charging stations across the United States by 2030, and in October, placed an order for Tesla’s fast chargers worth $100 million.
(Reuters) – BP’s electric charging unit is keen on buying Tesla’s Supercharging sites in the United States, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
BP “is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement,” the report quoted Sujay Sharma, CEO of BP Pulse Americas, as saying in an interview.
Tesla and BP did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The development comes days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk abruptly laid off employees who ran the electric vehicle charging business, but said the automaker still plans to expand the Supercharger network at a slower pace for new locations.
The move could present other public EV fast-charging networks such as EVgo and ChargePoint an opportunity to grow their market share.
BP had said in February last year that it planned to invest $1 billion in EV charging stations across the United States by 2030, and in October, placed an order for Tesla’s fast chargers worth $100 million.
The 250-kilowatt BP Pulse-branded chargers will be compatible with both Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), and Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors enabling the charging of EV models from other carmakers.
Automakers have been moving to adopt Tesla’s NACS, taking the company’s superchargers closer to becoming the industry standard at the expense of the rival CCS.
“If there are stranded real estate partners who are looking for someone to call, they should feel free to pick up the phone and call me or look me up on LinkedIn,” the report quoted Sharma as saying.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Shailesh Kuber)
How does Tesla pick Supercharger locations?
Ongoing site selection is based on market expansion needs, as well as popular routes and destinations. Join the largest fast charging network in the world.
Can I charge my EV at a Tesla Supercharger in USA?
What vehicles can charge at what Tesla Superchargers? There are 3 types of Tesla Superchargers: Tesla-only Superchargers, which only work for Tesla vehicles. All EVs Superchargers, which are available for all EVs to charge with a “Magic Dock” adapter that is provided at the charging post.
How many superchargers are there in the US?
Key Points. In the U.S., there are 2,234 Tesla Supercharger stations with 25,156 Tesla Supercharger ports. California has the most Tesla Supercharger stations (448) and the most Tesla Supercharger ports (6,913).
BP’s Potential Acquisition of Tesla’s US Supercharger Sites
The correspondence also detailed internal debate over how to hold meetings between Tesla and BP representatives. A BP employee suggested setting up a meeting at Tesla headquarters, but a Tesla worker said such a meeting could be illegal. “Sorry, BP cannot host Tesla at any of our U.S. locations,” a BP employee replied. Another said that a hotel could be used to host the potential negotiations.
These discussions likely took place about 2015, when there was speculation that Apple or Volkswagen could acquire Tesla. Back then, Musk said he would be open to selling Tesla, but that he intends for the company to remain independent. It’s not clear if Tesla or BP signs will actually proceed with a deal regarding the supercharger sites. BP has not commented on the new speculation.
UK-based multinational oil and gas company BP could enter the electric vehicle charging industry. The company reportedly held talks with Tesla about the possible acquisition of the automaker’s US Supercharger sites. According to potentially leaked correspondence reviewed by The Information, discussing the topic of a Tesla-BP partnership loophole meant to avoid legal complications arising from restriction of direct vehicle sales bypassed potential issues. “They have now gotten to the right person in the company to get the conversation started. That person is CPO J.D. Straubel,” said an email to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. “If you have any concerns with my recruiting JB (please don’t) please let me know.”
Two differing principals are sharing this business line. The first proposal consists of: The second proposal has its origin in the interests of BP and Tesla and consists of: The rationale for its submission has been sought with previous relationships and the common problems of both companies: In the early deployment of electric vehicles, the additional network and the charging times categories are considered the most important, including the sharing of capex and operating losses on infrastructure, also addressing the valuations of both companies.
In 2012, Tesla made a pact to deploy 70% of its charging stations piggybacking on BP’s cleaned up oil and gas sites across the UK and EU, rebranded as NRG in the US, Total in France, and BP elsewhere. Tesla also follows this pact in Asia, primarily in China, and in several other countries.
BP and Tesla have contemplated a variety of business relationships since at least a couple of years ago with open discussions. Last year, concrete talks had started when Tesla began to consider divestment in some business lines due to capital shortage constraints proposed by Elon Musk’s banking consortium, in response to the otherwise solid financial Q2 2018 results. The consortium had offered to purchase shares at $210 per share, thereby valuing the company at $375 billion. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is now also quickly increasing its interest for an equal market cap of $172.9 billion.
Purpose
The Supercharger network has important strategic implications. It allows fast recharges for Supercharger-compatible vehicles with high-state-of-charge batteries and a peak power of 150KW. In comparison, other current commercial fast-rechargers have a peak power of 50KW. Furthermore, the power per station is shared across the vehicles whenever more of them are charging simultaneously.
In 2012, Tesla had 14 stations in California with 98 ports. In 2018, Tesla had 141 stations with 1,293 ports. The growing number of stations and the increasing power density resulted in a decrease in recharging time, amounting to 8.9% in annualized growth. This growth recorded by the network has been contributing to the increasing sales of EVs. Moreover, it has protected Tesla from imitation by other competitors.
This report is produced as part of the examination of the potential acquisition of Tesla’s US Supercharger sites by BP. In 2014, the mass production of the Tesla Model S started and substantially boosted electric vehicle (EV) sales. In 2012, Tesla launched the Model S and the deployment of the Supercharger network, with a growth in total public charging facilities by over 50% in Montana, Nevada, and Oregon by 2015. The company accelerated the deployment of the Supercharger network from 12 stations in 2012 to 935 in 2018, and the rate has continuously been rising.