British petrol station operator EG Group plans to buy Tesla fast charging stations for its evpoint European EV charging network. This is the second known sale of Tesla chargers to another charge point operator, following a recent order from bp pulse.
EG’s Tesla chargers will be accessible to all EV drivers regardless of brand, and the first of them will be installed by the end of this year. The chargers will support the Plug & Charge protocol, which offers a seamless authentication and payment process similar to that which Tesla drivers have always enjoyed.
Neither company has said how many chargers or how much money the order represents. We do know that EG currently operates around 600 public EV chargers, and has spoken of plans to expand its charging network to over 20,000 EV chargers.
The EG Group operates over 3,500 roadside retail sites in the UK and Europe. The company says all its evpoint chargers are supplied by 100% renewable energy.
“Securing this best-in-class equipment from Tesla marks another milestone for evpoint,” said Zuber Issa, founder and co-CEO of the EG Group. “It is the first deal of its kind entered into by Tesla with a third-party charge point operator in Europe. Since installing our first EV charger back in 2012, we have continued to invest in the technology.”
Not only do the recent deals represent a new line of business for Tesla (one with the potential to radically change the public charging landscape), they also seem to have inspired a new willingness to share information with the press. “The rapid installation of reliable, easy-to-use EV charging infrastructure is the right step towards a sustainable future and a key area of focus for us at Tesla,” said Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla’s Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure.
Source: Reuters, Teslarati, The Business Desk, Electrek