bp and Piaggio Group plan to work together to develop and roll out a comprehensive set of services for the rapidly growing number of two and three-wheeled electric vehicles across Europe, India and Asia.
These vehicles, electric motorbikes, motor scooters and compact commercial vehicles, are today the most highly electrified vehicle class globally, with 44% of sales and 25% of the existing global fleet, or around 250 million vehicles, already electric. It has been estimated that by 2040 the proportion of sales of these vehicles that are electric may have risen to over 80% and the number of electric two and three-wheelers globally may have tripled to 750 million.
Bringing together Piaggio’s extensive e-vehicle production operations and infrastructure management capabilities with bp’s expertise and global reach, the companies aim to support the growing adoption of electric two and three-wheelers globally to help address city congestion and reduce pollution in urban areas.
Richard Bartlett, bp’s senior Vice President, Future Mobility & Solutions, said: “The huge and fast-growing two and three-wheeler market is already leading the way for electrification and we see great potential for continued growth across both Asia and Europe. Working closely with Piaggio Group – a world leader in this market – we will aim to develop and deliver the innovative services that customers will need. This will support the growth of rapid and truly convenient urban mobility using zero tailpipe emission vehicles, enabling reductions in air pollution and helping cities in its efforts to decarbonize.”
“Working together with bp will help us deliver our idea and offer a mobility revolution”, said Michele Colaninno, Chief of Strategy and Product of the Piaggio Group. “To achieve this goal, it is necessary to promote the widespread adoption of electric vehicles such as motorbikes, motor scooters and compact commercial vehicles equipped with battery swap technology or plug-in charging, thus encouraging a more sustainable life-cycle management of batteries and greater respect for the environment. Working with bp is an incredible starting point to enhance our strategy.”
Under its memorandum of understanding, Piaggio Group and bp, along with affiliate Jio-bp in India, will explore opportunities to work together to offer charging and battery swap stations, as well as developing all-encompassing services such as ‘Battery as a Service’ (BaaS) – leasing, management and recycling of vehicle batteries – and ‘Vehicle as a Service’ (VaaS) – leasing, repair, maintenance and smart energy management of these vehicles. Initial efforts and focus will be on India, where Jio-bp and Piaggio are already engaged in developing electric vehicle solutions. The companies also intend to explore opportunities in broader Asia – in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam – and in Europe.
Convenience and mobility is a core part of bp’s strategy. Working closely with innovative partners, bp seeks to develop new business models and services that will help deliver the future of mobility, energy and services for customers. Electrification is at the heart of bp’s approach to mobility and it is growing its charging businesses around the world, aiming to have over 70,000 public charge points by 2030.
The Piaggio Group has been a pioneer in electric mobility since the mid-1970s, continuously searching for the most technologically advanced solutions, developed in its R&D centers around the world. It sees the ability to combine robotics and software as key to enhancing future mobility systems in every city and, with its e-vehicle production operations and infrastructure management capabilities, the Group intends to continue to be a leader of the ongoing revolution.
Jio-bp is an Indian fuels and mobility joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and bp. With the vision to become a solution provider of choice for mobility in India, the joint venture will leverage Reliance’s presence across 21 States and its millions of consumers through the Jio digital platform. bp brings its extensive global experience in high-quality differentiated fuels, lubricants, retail, and advanced low carbon mobility solutions.