PSO has 16 EV charging sites across 3,727 pumps, and a 10 percent target would need 373

Pakistan State Oil, the country's largest fuel retailer, now has 16 electric vehicle charging locations on a network of 3,727 outlets. That is 0.43 percent of its sites. The figures come from PSO's results for the quarter to 30 September, which also show it opened 37 new retail sites in those three months. Fuel retailers are adding pumps much faster than chargers.

The other listed companies tell the same story. Wafi Energy, which runs the Shell network, opened 54 retail sites and nine charging locations in the nine months to 30 September, one charging location for every six new pumps, Dawn reports. Attock Petroleum reported 816 outlets at the end of September, five new in the quarter and six closed. It has chargers at the Dandiwal service areas on the M4 motorway with Hubco Green and a heavy duty charger at a company run site in Islamabad, and plans to extend charging to 13 more outlets.

What a 10 percent target means

The Oil Companies Advisory Council told the government in March that the New Energy Vehicles policy sets a target of 10 percent EV charging availability at retail outlets by 2030, and that some local authorities already tie new fuel station approvals to installing a charger. Apply that to PSO and the target is about 373 sites (3,727 times 10 percent). Against 16 today, the gap is 357, or roughly 89 sites a year over the four years to 2030.

The council puts the cost of a Level 3 fast charger at Rs15 million to Rs20 million, before transformers, cabling and backup power. One charger at each of PSO's 357 missing sites would cost between Rs5.4 billion and Rs7.1 billion (357 times Rs15 million and Rs20 million). PSO's standalone profit after tax for the quarter alone was Rs25.56 billion, so the bill is 21 to 28 percent of a single quarter's profit. The sum assumes one charger per site and ignores the extra grid works the council mentions.

Profit gives PSO the room. The same quarter a year earlier it earned Rs9.39 billion, and the programme would have taken 57 to 76 percent of that figure (Rs5.4 billion and Rs7.1 billion divided by Rs9.39 billion). The company can pay for the build. What it cannot do is make a charger busy.

Why the money is not the issue

The retailers' objection is about use. The council said in March that oil companies had installed about 15 charging stations and that only a few had reached breakeven. It counted 2,700 to 3,000 electric vehicles on the road in November 2025, against a projection of 125,000. Spread over 15 stations, that is 180 to 200 vehicles per station.

Electric two wheelers are where the volume is: Dawn reports sales of 240,000 in the year to June, up from 60,000 a year earlier. They are not the customers a fast charger serves, because their small batteries are mostly charged at home or swapped. A charger of this class earns its keep only when cars use it often. The arithmetic is unforgiving. For every Rs1 a unit of margin over the cost of electricity, a Rs15 million charger must sell 15 million units to pay for itself. At 60 kilowatt hours for a full charge of a mid sized car battery, that is 250,000 full charges. The council's cited tariff of Rs38.9 a unit for charging stations sets the cost floor for that sum.

A count of pumps with chargers may be the wrong yardstick. Highways like the M4 give long stops where fast charging makes sense, while a pump on a city road gives a charger few customers. A target that scales with outlet numbers will put capital where cars are not, and it favours the largest networks. A target set in kilowatts of fast charging along corridors would suit drivers better and cost the companies less. Early buyers of electric cars outside the motorway corridors are the ones who lose, because the home charger remains their only dependable option.

PSO reported last year's half year results, to 31 December, on 17 February 2026. Its results for the same half this year will show whether 16 grows.