BP’s EV Charging Arm Cuts Jobs And Reduces Global Ambitions
Well it seems that BP is proof that EV growth is not going how many expected
If ever anyone needed any proof that everything I have been saying about electric vehicles (EVs) not being a sustainable future, here it is. Reuters has reported that BP has cut over a tenth of the workforce in its electric vehicle charging business and pulled it out of several markets after a bet on rapid growth in commercial EV fleets didn’t pay off, according to company sources.
These changes at BP Pulse are part of CEO Murray Auchincloss’s efforts to focus on the British company’s most profitable segments as it battles investor doubts over its plan to shift away from oil and gas to low-carbon energy.
Moreover, BP Pulse in recent months reduced the number of countries it focuses on from 12 to four, the United States, Britain, Germany and China, where it expects the fastest growth in the EV market, BP told Reuters. It also earmarked Australia, New Zealand and France as growth countries, it said.
As a result, the division axed over 100 jobs in recent months, or over 10 percent of its global workforce of 900, with many employees being moved into other divisions and only a handful leaving the company, the sources said. Coincidentally, American EV brand, Tesla also recently stated it would lay off over 10 percent of its staff globally. Weird coincidence, right?
BP also did not comment on the exact numbers of jobs that were cut. The move comes as automakers across the world tighten their belts amid a slower than expected uptake of EVs. EV charging, however, remains one of five key growth engines for BP, which is betting on customers spending more time at its convenience sites while powering up their cars using fast chargers.
On top of that, BP had over 29,000 charging points globally at the end of 2023, compared with 22,000 a year earlier, it said in its annual report. It aims to have 100,000 points by 2030. BP Pulse has also stepped away from several bets it made since launching its energy transition strategy under previous group CEO Bernard Looney in 2020.
The company says it expects returns from its EV charging and convenience stores operations to exceed 15 percent and create USD1.5 billion (about RM7.2 billion ) in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation by 2025.
We got all this from Reuters and their full article is linked here. Thank you Reuters for the information and images.
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