The big oil companies are slightly shifting towards the business of electric cars.
Chevron Corp. will offer charging ports for electric cars at some gas stations in California, according to a statement issued Monday. Rapid charging points are being installed by EVgo at five stations in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas. EVgo currently has a car-charging network in 34 states across the United States.
While Chevron’s focus remains clearly on oil and gas, there is a trend in the industry as the price of battery-powered cars decreases. In January, Royal Dutch Shell Plc agreed to buy Greenlots, which will make it the first major oil company to own a cargo service in the US, according to BloombergNEF.
“We are always exploring how to evolve our offer, helping to improve the consumer experience and working to remain the preferred brand option on the West Coast,” says Alice Flesher, general manager of the fuel stations owned and operated by Chevron.
In November, Chevron was one of the investors in ChargePoint Inc., one of the largest operators of electric vehicle charging networks.
However, Chevron’s movements do not seem to make a dent in the demand for automobile cargo in California. At the end of last year, the state had registered 273,656 electric cars, almost half of the total in the US.
