Australian EV charging company EVSE is looking to take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding the financial collapse of Brisbane-based Tritium by offering discounts to customers to replace their electric vehicle fast charging equipment.
The offer by EVSE is targeting site hosts worried about the future of their Tritium chargers following that company’s financial collapse last month, when it was placed in the hands of voluntary administrators and receivers  because of its financial woes.
Tritium’s future is unclear, although the receivers have said they are hopeful of finding a buyer for the business. But EVSE says it and technology partner Ocular, will offer “significant discounts” to its DC replacement service.
“The DC charging infrastructure is crucial in Australia’s shift to electric vehicles. EVSE is here to ensure that we avoid downtime in this critical area, especially when other companies can no longer maintain the chargers,” EVSE Sam Korkees said in a statement.
Tritium grabbed the lion’s share of the Australian non-Tesla fast-charging market, although its early models suffered reliability issues, and were prone to breakdowns – a situation that was made worse by the difficulty in securing replacement parts.
One network operator, the motoring group RACV in Victoria, announced in February that it would be replacing 24 Tritium DC chargers at RACV’s seven public charging sites with units supplied by Kempower.
Another US-based charging technology provider Freewire has also hit a financial wall, and the only two chargers installed in Australia, battery integrated facilities at the site of the Mittagong RSL in NSW, have been removed by the site owner NRMA. On top of this, Tesla has effectively stopped the roll out of its Supercharger network at new sites.
Korkees believes that many site hosts are now either waiting for Tritium to ‘rise from the ashes’ and assure parts and service support, or choosing to “bite the bullet” now and replace them with units from other manufacturers.
“DC charging has encountered many obstacles, particularly concerning the cost and dependability of the infrastructure for charging,” Korkees said.
“With the unfortunate demise of certain industry players, gaps in the market have emerged, posing challenges for EV drivers and hindering widespread EV adoption. However, these gaps present a chance for development and creativity. “
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.