BP will this week unveil an additional £1bn for new electric car charging points in the UK, one of a number of investments the government hopes to announce alongside its long-awaited infrastructure strategy. 

Ministers have been working for months on a strategy, expected to be announced on Friday, to ensure the UK has enough charging stations as cars and vans switch to electric, say three people familiar with the matter. BP’s investment will significantly boost the number of superfast charging points in its current network of about 8,000, which are mainly located in petrol stations and motorway service areas. The network, called Pulse and formerly known as Chargemaster, also includes some older on-street chargers. BP declined to comment on the new investment and would not provide a figure for its overall spending on charging points to date across the country. It has previously said it plans to install 16,000 superfast UK charging points by the end of the decade, as part of a global ambition to roll out 100,000 by 2030.

Guest post from Financial Times