BP Pulse is making £2m available to help local authorities upgrade and replace outdated charge points across the country, bringing a “radical improvement” in charging for EV drivers.

BP Pulse is working closely with local authorities and other charge point owners to replace older infrastructure as quickly as possible with new, higher-quality hardware

The charging specialist said it’s working closely with local authorities and other charge point owners to replace older infrastructure as quickly as possible with new, higher-quality hardware.

It’s already committed more than £400,000, which will be used to replace more than 50 legacy charge points – typically owned by local authorities and originally installed with government grant funding.

And it’s making a further £1.5m of funding made available for charge point owners to ensure drivers can charge in more places and more easily.

The upgrade also means that BP Pulse can provide more effective operational support and ongoing maintenance of the network, countering current issues where EV drivers are struggling with charge points that are no longer usable.

It’s over a decade since the Plugged in Places scheme went live, marking the first significant roll-out of public charging infrastructure, and many of these early charge points were not installed with long-term sustainability in mind.

BP Pulse’s work has already led to the majority of legacy third-party manufacturer rapid chargers in Milton Keynes being replaced and upgraded to its own UK-made 50kW chargers, including contactless payment terminals.

Matteo de Renzi, CEO of BP Pulse, said: “While we remain focused on expanding our network, in particular with the proliferation of convenient ultra-fast charging, we know that many of the issues experienced by drivers come from legacy charging infrastructure, so our investment in upgrading it will significantly improve the experience of EV drivers across the country.”