Making EV Charging More Accessible – Bharat Petroleum And Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Collaborate To Setup 7000 Chargers

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a Fortune 500 and a Fully Integrated Maharatna Energy Company and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. (TPEM), known for pioneering India's electric vehicle revolution, have signed an MOU to collaborate in establishing public charging stations across India. The collaboration will leverage BPCL's widespread fuel stations network and TPEM's insights from over 1.15 lakh Tata EVs on Indian road, to set up chargers at locations frequently visited by Tata EV owners. Additionally, BPCL will gather insights on charger usage to improve customer experience.

This agreement between TPEM and BPCL aims to improve the overall experience for EV owners across India. The two companies are also exploring the possibility of introducing a convenient payment system through a co-branded RFID card, making payment easier for Tata EV users and to encourage more people to adopt electric vehicles in the country.

BPCL boasts a nationwide network of over 21,000 Fuel Stations and is committed to a sustainable future by amalgamating strategy, investments, and environmental goals. BPCL aims to install 7,000 electric vehicle charging stations by next year. To alleviate electric vehicle owners' range concerns, BPCL has initiated over 90 Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Highway Corridors across the nation, ensuring a fast-charging station approximately every 100 kilometers on both sides of major highways. These corridors span more than 30,000 kilometers across various highways, assuring enhanced EV convenience and accessibility.

According to Santosh Kumar, Executive Director In charge Retail, BPCL said “BPCL is constantly striving to align with the nation’s vision to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. BPCL steadily moving closer to goal to converting 7000 of our conventional retail outlets into energy stations which is a part of a comprehensive decarbonization strategy to support and prioritize sustainable initiatives. BPCL has already set up a very large network of fast charging stations across highways. EV is a field of collaboration and we believe that the joining hands with TPEM shall take the EV game of BPCL and TPEM to the next level.”

TPEM is the market leader in EVs in India, commanding a market share of over 71% in electric passenger vehicles. With more than 115,000 Tata EVs on Indian roads, where 75% are used as primary vehicles, TPEM continues to lead the way in India's electric mobility revolution.

According to Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd., and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd., “EV adoption is a key imperative to combat the deteriorating air quality in Indian cities. Wide-spread and reliable charging infrastructure will be a key catalyst for accelerating EV adoption in India. In line with our commitment to develop the charging ecosystem in India, we are delighted to announce our strategic collaboration with BPCL, which is aimed at accelerating India’s journey towards e-mobility. This collaborative partnership epitomizes our shared vision of fostering positive change - an enabling infrastructure for the growing EV customer base. It will benefit from TPEM’s unparalleled EV usage insights, and BPCL’s formidable nationwide network. It has the potential to reshape the landscape of charging infrastructure in the country.”

Case studies from across the world show that ubiquitous and convenient charging infrastructure is a prerequisite for driving EV adoption, and that growth in charging infrastructure results in an exponential growth in EV adoption. The collaboration between two leading companies is expected to accelerate the growth of charging infrastructure in the country, and thus contribute to mainstreaming EV adoption in India.

About BPCL:

Fortune Global 500 Company, Bharat Petroleum is the second largest Indian Oil Marketing Company and one of the premier integrated energy companies in India, engaged in refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products, with a significant presence in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. The company attained the coveted Maharatna status, joining the elite club of companies having greater operational & financial autonomy.

Bharat Petroleum’s Refineries at Mumbai & Kochi and Bina at Madhya Pradesh have a combined refining capacity of around 35.3 MMTPA. Its marketing infrastructure includes a network of installations, depots, energy stations, aviation service stations and LPG distributors. Its distribution network comprises over 20,000 Energy Stations, over 6,200 LPG distributorships, 733 Lubes distributorships, and 123 POL storage locations, 54 LPG Bottling Plants, 60 Aviation Service Stations, 4 Lube blending plants and 4 cross-country pipelines.

About Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (TPEM):

Tata Motors leads the electric mobility revolution in India and is committed to making e-vehicles more accessible. Powered by its proprietary, state-of-the-art Ziptron technology, the Tata branded EVs (cars & SUVs) are highly appreciated for their powerful performance, zero emissions, connected features and low operating costs. Being an early advocate of ‘EVs is the future of mobility’ and understanding the criticality of an enabling ecosystem to realise it, select Tata Group companies have collaborated under ‘Tata UniEVerse’ to jointly accelerate the acceptance and adoption of EVs. Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd., a subsidiary of Tata Motors with TPG Rise Climate as an investor, aims to invest $2 billion by 2026 to launch 10 new electric vehicles, build a dedicated BEV architecture, support local manufacture of key components and development of advanced automotive and battery technologies. It also intends to catalyse the creation of a widespread charging infrastructure as well as growth of other infrastructure to facilitate rapid EV adoption in India.