Australia marked a small but significant milestone in its transition to a new electric future with the installation of the country’s 50th publicly accessible fast charging site at the Hunter Valley Gardens, in Pokolbin.
The fast-charger that marked the milestone is part of a $10 million deal cut by Tritium with NRMA, the state’s premier roadside assist company, to roll out a fast charging network across the state.
Expected to be completed sometime next year, the NRMA fast charging network will consist of around 40 fast chargers across NSW and the ACT, the Veefil-RT 50kW DC Fast Charger at Pokolbin being the 4th to be installed to date.
Of the 50 public chargers installed across Australia, 18 are in the Queensland Electric Highway, and when the NRMA network is completed, another 36 fast chargers will be added to the list.
Tritium have a global presence in EV fast charging – their chargers form a significant part of the European IONITY network, and they also have customers in 26 countries worldwide.
In Australia, they dominate the market for EV charging infrastructure, with an estimated market share topping 70 per cent.
Senator Tim Storer, who is chairing the federal government’s Select Committee on Electric Vehicles, says the milestone is indicative of Tritium’s success in sparking the emerging electric vehicle charging industry in Australia.
“Tritium’s success is a timely reminder that we have the smarts and skilled labour force here in Australia to be an advanced manufacturing powerhouse,” he said in a statement to the press.
“Imagine what they could achieve if we had a national strategy to support the development of the EV industry here in Australia.”
However Chris Hewitt, head of sales for Tritium in Australia, says that there is still more to be done.
“While hitting this milestone is a great achievement, the country still has a long way to go with the need for hundreds of new DC charging locations,” he says.
“Federal Government support and incentives would certainly help further drive electric vehicle penetration into the Australian market, but industry and local governments across Australia aren’t prepared to wait for it.
“They see the tangible benefits electric vehicles bring to the environment and to trade, and they’ve been overwhelming in their enthusiasm to roll out the necessary infrastructure.”
Tritium also recently inked a deal with fuel tech leader Gilbarco Veeder-Root, whose minority investment will allow the company to further their expansion into the US and Europe and also consider entering the potentially lucrative Asian markets of India and China.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.