BP have announced that they will add rapid charging points for electric cars at its UK petrol stations within the next two months, adapting to the dramatic growth of electric vehicles.

The British oil firm’s venture arm has invested $5m (£3.5m) in the US firm Freewire Technologies, which will provide charging units on forecourts which will top up cars in half an hour.

The move follows BP rival Shell, which has been on a buying spree of electric car infrastructure companies and has already opened charging points at its service stations.

While BP would not put a number on how many forecourts would have the new chargers, it confirmed the trial would start in the UK during February and March before expanding to European locations later in the year.

Tufan Erginbilgic, the chief executive of BP Downstream, said: “EV charging will undoubtedly become an important part of our business, but customer demand and the technologies available are still evolving.”