Piaggio and BP team up for commercial electrification strategy

Piaggio Group have announced that they will be working with oil company BP to roll out a ‘set of services’ for electric vehicles in the two and three-wheeled sector.

The firms will work together on strategies for leasing, management and recycling of vehicle batteries or even whole vehicles starting in India before exploring China, Indonesia and Vietnam – and even Europe.

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“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,” said Richard Bartlett, BP’s Senior Vice President of Future Mobility and Solutions. “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 their efforts to decarbonize.”

According to Bloomberg, bikes, scooters and compact commercial vehicles the most highly electrified vehicle class globally, with 44% of sales and 25% of the existing global fleet – equating to around 250 million vehicles – already electric.

They also estimate 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.

Michele Colaninno, Chief of Strategy and Product at Piaggio Group added: “Working together with bp will help us deliver our idea and offer of a mobility revolution.

“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.”