BP Pulse is spending £2m to help local authorities across the UK upgrade old public charging points with faster and more reliable units.
The charging company has invested about £400,000 upgrading more than 50 existing chargers owned by councils and is due to spend £700,000 on replacing and upgrading another 300-plus units.
These old chargers were typically installed about 10 years ago under the government-funded Plugged in Places scheme – the first major roll-out of public charging infrastructure.
According to BP Pulse, many of these early charge points were installed without long-term sustainability in mind and have suffered from under-investment, leaving them unusable.
In Milton Keynes, the company has replaced most chargers from third-party manufacturers with more powerful, UK-made 50kW units featuring contactless payment terminals.
It says these upgrades allow it to provide more effective operational support and ongoing maintenance of the network.
Matteo de Renzi, BP Pulse CEO, said, “While we remain focused on expanding our network, in particular with the proliferation of convenient ultra-fast charging, we know that many of the issues experienced by drivers come from legacy charging infrastructure, so our investment in upgrading it will significantly improve the experience of EV drivers across the country.”
Transport Minister Rachel Maclean added: “I’m delighted to see that steps are being taken to upgrade public EV charge points, increasing their reliability and taking us one step closer to delivering on the commitment to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.
“We’re determined to deliver a world-leading electric vehicle charging network right across the country, as we build back greener and accelerate towards a net-zero transport future.”
