Tritium EV fast chargers installed at University of Qld, powered by solar

Brisbane based EV infrastructure company Tritium has installed four of its award-winning Veefil fast chargers at the University of Queensland, for free use by staff, students and the broader public.

The 50kW DC fast chargers – installed at the Uinversity’s Gatton and St Lucia campuses, and officially launched on Thursday – will be powered by UQ’s exisiting solar PV systems, making them the state’s first solar-powered EV fast chargers.

Each campus has one Veefil DC fast charger, which can charge fully electric vehicles or compatible plug-in hybrids, and one Tesla Destination Charger designed for use with Tesla vehicles.

The units can provide a range of up to 70km for every 15 minutes of charging, making them about 10-times faster than traditional charging options.

The location of the charger at Gatton, outside Brisbane, is expected to be convenient for intercity travel to Toowoomba and beyond for EV drivers, a factor the university hopes might encourage EV uptake.

“We see this initiative as a way for the University to become a leader in enabling a more widespread use of electric vehicles – a real milestone for the development of sustainable transport in Queensland,” UQ COO Greg Pringle.

“We hope the chargers will motivate staff, students and the wider public to consider the many benefits of electric vehicle travel.

“They’re powered by UQ’s solar arrays, meaning that when the sun is shining, charging is emissions-free.”

Tritium’s founding directors, David Finn, Paul Sernia and James Kennedy are alumni of UQ, so say the project has had particular significance.

“It’s where we first met and began working on solar technologies,” says Sernia, Tritium’s commercial director.

“While studying, we collaborated on entering a car for the World Solar Challenge, before going on to establishing our company in 2001.

“It’s exciting to see the culmination or our innovative technology – which started at UQ – now helping to kick-start the electric vehicle revolution in Queensland.”

Tritium CEO Finn said the Veefil charger at Gatton was a first for Queensland, in that it allowed easy inter-city EV travel between Brisbane and Toowoomba.

“We’ve installed hundreds of our chargers in North America and in other parts of the world, but it is great to see more going in where it all began,” Finn said.