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, company sources said.
As a result, the division axed over 100 jobs in recent months, or over 10% of its global workforce of 900, with many employees being moved into other divisions and only a handful leaving the company, the sources said.The move comes as automakers across the world tighten their belts amid a slower than expected uptake of EVs. US EV pioneer Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global workforce, an internal memo showed, as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for EVs.
“Our EV ambitions have not changed,” BP said. The changes at BP Pulse are “a step towards ensuring that we can execute our goals with even greater precision and effectiveness”.