Dan McLaren left school with no qualifications, spent his early years as a greenkeeper at a private members' golf club, and now looks after half of the BP Pulse network as Network Optimisation Lead.
Dan talks about growing up dyslexic in a school system that dealt with it by "putting you in a class with less people", and about the father-in-law who took him on as a project — daily five o'clock phone calls, hard questions, and a £600-a-month leg-up that let him start again from the bottom in the motor trade. It's a powerful case for why everyone should find themselves a mentor, and why Dan now makes time to be one for the younger generation coming up behind him.
We also cover:
Falling into EV by accident — how a fixed-term contract at the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre in Milton Keynes (taken mainly because it came with a car) turned into a career, once Dan swapped a cautious rental policy for a simple philosophy: bums on seats sells EVs.
Life as "Dan Dan the EV Man" — taking on the myths and misinformation head-on via TikTok, why he actually quite enjoyed the naysayers, and why he stepped back from it to make a bigger difference from a commercial seat.
Where BP Pulse goes next — the shift to purely rapid and ultra-fast charging, why it's about the right charger in the right place rather than the most chargers in the ground, partnerships with M&S, Q-Park and Transport for London, and an honest reflection on the reputational baggage that comes with being one of the industry's earliest movers.
Playing to your strengths — how Dan turned dyslexia into an engine for ideas, relationships and front-of-room energy, and learned to let the analytical people do the analytical bits.
Plus, Dan receives the legendary EV Café magic wand and uses his wishes on happy kids, a healthier heart, and making BP Pulse the biggest and best charge point operator in the UK.
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