Australia’s Rectifier unveils first two-way electric vehicle charger

two-way charger

The Driven

Melbourne-based company Rectifier Technologies has unveiled its first two-way electric vehicle (EV) charger, that will allow homes and businesses to not only charge an EV, but also sell excess power back to the grid.

Known as “vehicle-to-grid” (V2G), this technology allows owners of EVs with bidirectional charging capabilities, such as the Nissan Leaf, to sell power back to the grid during times of peak demand, helping to trim power bills.

It’s a first for the power conversion company which also sells a range of battery chargers and power modules, and which has a number of global customers including Brisbane-based EV fast-charger maker Tritium, which supplies DC fast chargers to major EV charging networks such as Europe’s Ionity.

With the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) market forecast to reach a staggering $US18 billion ($A25 billion) by 2027, the announcement potentially places Rectifier Technologies with a first mover advantage.

As noted by Small Caps in April 2019, it was (and to our knowledge still is) the only publicly listed electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) distributor and component on the ASX.

Designed with tight car parking spaces in mind, the wall-mounted “Highbury DC” slim-line bidirectional charger has a top charge and discharge rate of 7kW, and will be available in late 2021 once the unit gains certification.

To read the full version of this story – and view the photo gallery – on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…

 

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

Get up to 3 quotes from pre-vetted solar (and battery) installers.