BP Ventures' first direct investment in China sees the energy giant step up its interest in electric vehicle infrastructure
BP has underlined its growing interest in the fast-expanding global electric vehicle (EV) market with the announcement it has invested in Chinese charging technology specialist PowerShare.
The oil and gas giant's venture arm, BP Ventures, confirmed today it has invested an undisclosed sum in the company after leading A Series A funding round with support from Chinese private equity firm DETONG Capital Partners.
PowerShare provides an online platform that connects EV drivers, charge point operators and power suppliers, streamlining the charging experience from locating a charge point through to paying for the power supply, BP said.
The company's cloud-based software platform also allows power suppliers to optimise their operations by monitoring and balancing power demand from vehicles with supply capacity on the grid.
The deal is the latest in a series of moves by BP to increase its interest in a range of clean technologies.
In recent years it has invested $200m in leading solar developer Lightsource, acquired UK EV charging infrastructure player Chargemaster, invested in fast-charging battery technology firm StoreDot and mobile-charging company Freewire Technologies, and inked an EV charging partnership with 66iFuel in China and NIO Capital's US Dollar Fund.
Lamar McKay, BP deputy chief executive, said the latest investment highlighted the company's interest in the fast-expanding Chinese EV market.
"China is the world's largest EV market and a key market for BP as we seek to expand our advanced mobility offer," he said in a statement. "Our investment into PowerShare, BP Ventures' first direct investment in China, demonstrates our continued intent to provide charging solutions and advanced mobility offers to Chinese consumers both on and off our forecourts."
Ethan Zhu, founder and CEO of PowerShare, said the company had "accumulated rich experiences in charging solutions and technologies through in-depth cooperation with domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers, charging operators and charging pile manufacturers in the past four years".
He added that the firm would now work with BP to "jointly expand markets, develop core technologies, and explore new business models in the global eMobility business".