Australian energy and technology company Alpine Energy recently debuted a potentially first-of-its-kind vehicle-to-vehicle DC fast charging platform.
Founded in Melbourne in 2018, Alpine Energy (not to be confused with the New Zealand energy utility of the same name) specialises in manufacturing mobile energy and electric vehicle (EV) charging technology.
Alpine previously focused on manufacturing battery-backed DC charging systems, but last week it unveiled the new MGEN M40, billing it as the world’s first vehicle-to-vehicle DC-to-DC EV charging solution.
The MGEN M40 has been designed and built in Australia with the aim of delivering necessary charging solutions where fixed infrastructure cannot reach.
It is designed to be driven to the point of need and to charge on the spot – such as in situations like roadside recovery, emergency response, mobile automotive services, and remote industries such as mining – the MGEN M40 relies on energy stored on a mobile asset.
“Until today, charging an electric vehicle has meant bringing the vehicle to the infrastructure,” said Mark Wexler, Founder and managing director of Alpine Energy.
“The MGEN M40 is built to do the opposite, to bring rapid charging to the vehicle, wherever it is.
“The cases that drive us are the hardest ones: getting a stranded driver moving again when there’s no charger for kilometres and keeping fleets running where the grid simply doesn’t reach. There is real field-validation work ahead, but a mobile, vehicle-to-vehicle approach points to a genuinely new way of delivering energy where it’s needed most.”
Alpine Energy has worked hard to solve the engineering challenges inherent in mobile DC fast charging, which requires the integration of power delivery, battery management, communications, and mobility into a single deployable platform.
The company’s initial prototype delivers up to 40 kW of DC output, equivalent to approximately 65 km of driving range for every 15 minutes of charging, with OCPP-compliant telemetry and 4G/LTE connectivity. It includes DC CCS2 and CHAdeMO connections as standard and is built to be modular and scalable.
Development of the MGEN M40 is being undertaken in partnership with Alpine Energy’s global engineering and connectivity partners, including Exor Oceania, which is supporting the platform’s deployment and helping provide access to operators in the mining sector, and Ampernext, whose battery-coupled DC-DC charging technology has been adapted for the role.
Alpine Energy is now looking for a limited number of operational partners to participate in early deployment and field validation of the MGEN M40, including roadside recovery and fleet operators, mobile automotive service providers, and remote-industry businesses.
Willing participants will receive early access to prototype systems alongside engineering and integration support and will be critical to shaping the platform as it continues to develop.
Organisations interested in participating can register at alpineenergy.com.au/contact-us
