BP Enters World’s Fastest Growing EV Market With DiDi

BP's EV Charging Pilot in Guangzhou is already open

British oil and gas company BP has announced its plans to enter the world’s largest and fastest-growing EV market via a joint venture with Chinese ride-hailing service provider Didi Chuxing (DiDi) to build EV charging infrastructure in China.

In a statement, the company said that the JV will develop ‘standalone, reliable and high-quality’ hubs all across China and provide EV charging services to DiDi’s drivers, and the public. The partners also intend to expand the joint venture into loyalty and convenience offerings, as well as other fleet services in the near future.

DiDi is China’s leading multi-modal transportation platform, which offers its users a full range of app-based options, including ride-hailing, automobile solutions sharing, and other services. Its platform already has approximately 550 million users and over 600,000 EVs operational in China.

BP hints that it wants to become a player in the electric mobility sector and this JV will provide the company with ample experience as China is the world’s most competitive as well as the fastest-growing EV market.

“As the world’s largest EV market, China offers extraordinary opportunities to develop innovative new businesses at scale and we see this as the perfect partnership for such a fast-evolving environment. The lessons we learn here will help us further expand BP’s advanced mobility business worldwide, helping drive the energy transition and develop solutions for a low carbon world,” Tufan Erginbilgic, BP’s downstream chief executive, said.

He further added that “combining BP’s global retail capability, EV charging expertise and experience with DiDi’s unrivalled mobility service platform, our partnership will aggregate demand and provide high quality, fast, reliable and safe charging for DiDi’s drivers and the public in China. DiDi is already converting to electric vehicles and has a very large user base, so we expect to drive high utilization of charging assets from Day One.”

China is the world’s largest and fastest-developing EV market with around 50% of the world’s battery electric vehicles (BEVs) today. BP believes that by 2030, around 80% of EV charging in China is expected to be done at destination, forecourt and fleet hub charge points.

“We look forward to combining our strengths to create a robust EV charging network for China, promote the growth of the new energy automotive industry, and provide a better experience for car owners across the country,” Cheng Wei, chairman and CEO of DiDi said.

BP and DiDi have already opened a pilot site in Guangzhou in the Guangdong province with ten fast-charging units ranging from 60-120kW.