Australian EV fast charger heads for North American market

Australian made electric vehicle fast charging technology is set to to be distributed in the US and Canada after it was awarded industry compliance for the two major north American markets.

Launched in 2013, the award-winning Veefil fast charge technology by Brisbane-based EV systems manufacturer Tritium – the only EV fast charger to be designed and manufactured in Australia – made its European debut last month, at the Intersolar 2014 conference in Munich, kicking off a new commercial deal for the technology.

The 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 May, it won a Good Design Award, beating out products like the Audi A3 sedan and the new Melbourne e-class tram.

“Obtaining UL compliance for North America so quickly is great news for us,” said Tritium’s commercial director, Paul Sernia. “We are one of the first UL approved EV fast chargers with multi-standard support for both the CHAdeMO and CCS fast charging standards used by all electric vehicles in North America.”

A recent report from Market Optimizer has predicted that the US EV charging stations market – the largest of the level 2 charging station markets by country – will grow at a compound annual rate of 36 per cent to 2020, driven by increasing economies of scale and Obama government incentives.

Meanwhile, global sales of EVs doubled between 2011 and 2012 and are expected to reach 20 million by 2020, with one in every 100 vehicles manufactured globally expected to be electric within the next four years.

Tritium says its deal with Shanghai-based manufacturer Surpass Sun Electric, announced in June, will help prepare the company to supply a fast-developing international market, dividing manufacturing between Australia (for domestic sales) and China (for global sales).

“There is huge interest in EVs, and it is widely acknowledged that publicly available, fast-charging infrastructure is critical for giving drivers the confidence to drive these vehicles the way they want to,” Sernia said. “When this happens it will benefit the market enormously and the number of electric cars in use globally will surge into a multi-million figure.”

The company is hoping that, as the world’s smallest fast charger and one of the most cost efficient to install and operate, the Veefil will quickly gain a significant foothold.

“In places like the US, Europe and Asia there are thousands of charging outlets that are used by about 200,000 electric cars,” said Paul Sernia. “In five to six years, that will be millions. It’s an emerging industry that is going to keep increasing as people and governments demand cleaner, healthier cities.”