Qld-made EV fast charging technology wins EU supply deal

A Queensland company specialising in electric vehicles has signed a new deal to have its world-leading, Australian-made fast charging technology installed across three countries in Europe.

Brisbane-based firm Tritium announced on Monday that it had sealed the deal – its first preferred-supplier agreement in the EU – with leading German emobility solutions company E-WALD.

E-WALD, which operates a fleet of EVs and charging stations across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has been appointed to install and support Tritium’s Veefil Electric Vehicle Fast Charger throughout these countries, as well to exclusively market the charger to its EV customers.

The Veefil charging system – developed over 10 years and backed by a $1.15 million Early Stage Commercialisation grant – boasts the ability to charge an EV 20 times faster than plugging it into the wall at home, and to add 50km range to an EV battery in just 10 minutes.

In June this year it made its European debut at the Intersolar 2014 conference in Munich, kicking off a new commercial deal for the technology.

The following month Tritium announced it had been awarded industry compliance for the US and Canada, opening the door for distribution deals in the two major North American markets.

“Germany is an exciting place right now in the development of EVs, and one of the most progressive countries in terms of embracing this technology,” said Tritium commercial director Paul Sernia in a statement on Monday.

“Not only are (E-WALD) extremely experienced and well-respected in the EV market, they also have expansion plans that match our own and similar high standards of operation.

“There are increasing signs that confidence in EVs is growing across the globe And although levels of public and political awareness vary in different territories, putting fast-charging infrastructures in place is now widely acknowledged as being essential to the acceptance of electric cars and an expansion of the market. We will see that once that infrastructure is in place, the floodgates will open.”

E-WALD, one of the fastest-growing ecarsharing organisations in Germany, currently has a fleet of nearly 200 EVs which contains 16 different models, from sports cars to small vans, together with a network of over 140 charging stations.

“We started trials of the the Veefil fast charger in December 2013 in Bavaria”, said E-WALD COO Anton Achatz. “Because of its unique liquid-cooled technology, it operates in exceptionally cold weather and so is ideal for our winter conditions.”