Whatever you and I may think about oil companies moving into the EV charging space, it’s happening. bp pulse plans to build a heavy-duty EV charging hub at an enormous truck stop in England, as part of a strategy to create a Europe-wide network of electric truck charging infrastructure.

The Ashford International Truckstop could hardly have a more strategic location—it’s close to Dover, the UK’s busiest ferry port, and LeShuttle Freight via the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone. According to bp, some 3.5 million heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) travel across the channel via the port of Dover and Eurotunnel each year. The 21-acre site offers 660 parking bays and a range of services for HGV drivers, including restaurants, shops and a gym.

bp pulse has acquired the freehold to the property, and will lease back the site to its former owner, the GSE Group, which will continue to operate the existing facilities. bp pulse will install, operate and manage the EV charging infrastructure.

bp has not specified the charging infrastructure it will deploy at the facility, but the company says the site “has the capacity to host approximately 20 one-megawatt chargers (MCS), 10 400 kW, and 125 100 kW chargers…subject to power connection availability and the pace of electrification in the UK and European road freight sector.” The company could install “a range of charging options suitable for both on-the-go and overnight HGVs.” The first megawatt chargers are expected to be in place in 2026.

In January 2023, bp opened a network of electric truck charging sites along a 600 km (373-mile) stretch of the Rhine-Alpine corridor across Germany. Bp’s German brand Aral pulse has 21 operational EV truck stops in Germany. Once the Dover site is equipped with EV chargers, bp pulse is “set to establish a link between the UK and its German charging corridor.”

bp “welcomes inquiries from property developers and landowners interested in collaborating to facilitate the growth of its EV charging network across Europe.”

“For fleet operators to consider going electric, they must be confident that the infrastructure is in place to support them,” said Stefan von Dobschuetz, General Manager of bp pulse Europe. “The location of [the Ashford International Truckstop] aligns with our mission to provide accessible and strategically positioned charging infrastructure for our customers along the major truck corridors in Europe. We look forward to working with national energy infrastructure partners to facilitate timely power connections for our ambitious project.”

Sources: bp pulse, Electrek