LONDON - BP launched on Thursday Britain's largest electric vehicle charging hub near Birmingham, capable of serving up to 180 cars.

The hub, located on the intersection of three motorways in central England, includes 30 ultra-fast 300 kilowatt charging stations, which can add 100 miles (160.93 km)of driving range in 15 minutes, as well as 150 7kw slow-charging points.

It is part of a plan to invest 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) this decade to build hundreds of EV charging hubs in the country, Akira Kirton, CEO of BP Pulse, the company's UK EV charging arm, told Reuters.

BP Pulse uses 100% renewable power at its charging stations, Kirton said.

EV charging is a central pillar in BP CEO Bernard Looney's energy transition plan, targeting returns of 15%.

Kirton would not comment on the expected returns from EV charging hubs, but said that "we see really good utilization at our sites and we absolutely have a number of our sites that are profitable."

  - Reuters