Brisbane-based fast-charger developer Tritium has inked a deal with Gilbarco Veeder-Root, a world leader in fuel technology dispensing systems that will see GVR take a minor investment in the company to increase its global presence in the EV charging market.
Tritium has been busy of late, having been selected to receive a significant amount of US Department of Energy funding with a view to developing smaller, ultra fast chargers that are not reliant on transformers to connect them to a medium voltage grid.
It has also had a bumper year in inking deals to supply its Veefil-PK HPC systems to the IONITY network (a joint charging venture between BMW, Daimler, Ford and Volkswagen) throughout Europe, as well as supplying fast chargers to customers in the US and elsewhere, and to NRMA in NSW – 26 countries worldwide in total.
The new investment from Gilbarco Veeder-Root, a subsidiary of multinational Fortive Corporation, will also see the tech leader handling all sales of Tritium’s EV chargers, which include the ultra fast Veefil-PK chargers, capable of charging EVs to full within just 5-10 minutes.
“Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s interest in Tritium further validates Tritium’s capabilities and technology expertise in the EV space,” says David Finn, Tritium chief executive officer and founder.
“This investment also sends a strong message to the industry about the future of EV charging in the retail fuelling and convenience market—it’s real, it’s happening and Tritium is at the forefront globally.”
The investment will not only allow further strategic expansion into European and US markets, but also to ramp up production of Tritium’s ultra fast chargers to meet increasing demand.
The company is also flagging possible expansion into the wider Asian region—unsurprisingly, India and China in particular.
“Our partnership with Tritium is the logical next step in our long history of evolving the Gilbarco Veeder-Root business portfolio to address progressive customer needs,” Martin Gafinowitz, senior vice president of Fortive, stated to the press.
“This investment provides early and judicious entry into a market with a growing need for rapid charging, which is one of the top barriers to EV purchase.”
The future of EVs is being recognised in unlikely places, with money from mining heavyweights making its way to the EV charging company—surely indicating confidence in the growing market.
In 2016, Tritium also raised $5 million, half of which came from the Queensland government’s Business Development Fund (BDF) and the other half from Tritium’s existing shareholders.
In 2017, mining baron Brian Flannery pumped $10 million into the EV charging company, which was at the time also used to further expansion into the US and Europe, joining engineering firm Varley Group and fellow coal exec Trevor St Baker as Tritium’s major investors.
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.