Scoop: BP to build EV fast-chargers in urban parking garages
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More high-speed charging stations for electric vehicles will be available in urban parking garages under a deal to be announced today between BP Pulse and LAZ Parking, a leader in digital parking technology, Axios is first to report.
Why it matters: Finding a place to charge an EV is especially difficult in densely packed cities, where many people live in apartment buildings and don't have access to a home charger.
- Ride-share and taxi drivers also need a place to quickly recharge their EVs so they can get back to earning fares.
Driving the news: LAZ, which has parking facilities in 477 cities in the U.S. and Canada, will work with BP Pulse to deploy ultra-fast public charging hubs across 20 U.S. cities over the next five years.
- Among them: Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington and Las Vegas.
- The high-speed chargers, rated 250kW or higher, can fully charge an EV in 30-45 minutes.
- The charging hubs will operate 24/7 and be open to the public.
- An hour of free parking is included when drivers charge using the BP Pulse app.
Between the lines: Figuring out where to build EV chargers is challenging, and access to the right real estate is important, BP Pulse Americas CEO Sujay Sharma tells Axios via email.
- The relationship with LAZ will allow the U.K.-based company to get a foothold in urban centers where it's traditionally been hard to build EV infrastructure.
- The LAZ locations are in addition to BP's own real estate footprint and its recently announced deal with U.S. mall operator Simon Property Group.
The bottom line: The U.S. still has a long way to go before there's sufficient charging infrastructure to support a shift to electric vehicles. Urban parking garages are a good place to start.
