BP plc is to buy Chargemaster, the UK's largest charging company for electric vehicles (EVs), in the latest move by oil and gas companies to tap into the electromobility revolution.
Along with peers such as Royal Dutch-Shell and Total, oil conglomerate BP has been making relatively small but significant investments into the infrastructure required for charging EVs, and not just as a contributor to its green credentials. The Chargemaster purchase is a more significant move.Certainly, there is an impetus among oil-sector majors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their operations and to create new low carbon businesses. Like other heavy industries, they are more than aware of expectations for the transition to a low-carbon future after the 2015 Paris Agreement.It is a transition that has propelled the current push for more use of EVs to the forefront of people's minds, and created an intensely competitive race among carmakers, battery companies, and providers of the raw materials used in batteries such as lithium and cobalt.It makes sense. Not only are government regulations forcing them to adopt a more environmentally friendly approach,...