By Nick Carey
LONDON (Reuters) - BP (LON:BP)'s electric vehicle charger unit is ordering $100 million worth of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) ultra-fast chargers for rollout in the United States, the first deployment of Tesla's chargers on an independent network, the companies said on Thursday.
The purchase is part of BP Pulse's plans to invest up to $1 billion in charging stations across the U.S. by 2030 and it offers EV market leader Tesla a new revenue stream.
"Selling our fast-charging hardware is a new step for us, and one we're looking to expand," Tesla's senior director for charging infrastructure Rebecca Tinucci said in a statement.
BP said the Tesla chargers will be rolled out as early as 2024 at BP brands including Travel Centers of America and Amoco, plus at third-party locations via partnerships with companies like rental car company Hertz - which has its own agreement to buy Teslas for its fleet.
The first charges will be installed in Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, BP said.
"(This) is a major step forward in our ambitions for high speed, open access charging infrastructure in the U.S.," BP Pulse global CEO Richard Bartlett said.
The 250 kilowatt BP Pulse-branded chargers will be compatible with both Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) and Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors enabling the charging of EV models from other carmakers.
Automakers have been moving to adopt Tesla's NACS, taking the Elon Musk-led company's superchargers closer to becoming the industry standard at the expense of the rival CCS.