NRMA to rev up fast-charging network with 40 Tritium stations in NSW
Tritium, an electric vehicle fast-charging system. Supplied
Winter sports enthusiasts heading to the NSW snow fields will be able to stop off at Jindabyne to charge their electric vehicles as a $10 million roll-out of 40 Tritium fast-charging stations begins across the region.
Brisbane-based Tritium, whose backers include coal champions Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery, won a tender process run by the NRMA to supply the chargers, which promise electric vehicle drivers a circa 80 per cent charge within 15-30 minutes.
The contract, to be announced on Friday, will more than double the number of Tritium's installed systems in Australia, which accounts for only about 2 per cent of its global sales. The stations will be mostly located in regional towns, near cafes or tourist attractions, rather than at motorway service stations and will be free for NRMA members. The service will begin this month.
"It's the biggest network announced so far in Australia and I think it will make a really big difference in terms of accessibility for this technology and also for connecting that part of the country," said Paul Sernia, co-founder of Tritium, which won the tender against international competition.
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"We can see the world going down the electric path but there's nothing happening here as a catalyst moving it forward," said NRMA chief Rohan Lund. Michele Mossop
"It's really what these networks are about, connecting locations, allowing people to use their electric car the way that they want to." Australia is a laggard among OECD counties in the uptake of EVs, hampered by worries about scarce re-charging facilities across vast areas and high prices compared with typical internal combustion engine cars. While EV sales rose 67 per cent last year they still made up only 0.2 per cent of new car sales, according to a report by the Electric Vehicle Council and ClimateWorks Australia.
"We can see the world going down the electric path but there's nothing happening here as a catalyst moving it forward," said NRMA chief Rohan Lund.
"Government support is needed but private enterprise still has a role to play. We felt that creating the infrastructure of a fast-charge network and then making it free for our member base to use as part of their membership subscription would be part of the catalyst that would really kickstart what's happening with EVs in this country."
The Tritium contract is the first part of an NRMA initiative to ensure that 95 per cent of EV journeys will be within 150 kilometres of a fast charge across NSW and the ACT. The availability of charging infrastructure is one of the big three deterrents for the uptake of electric cars.
The Veefil systems developed by Tritium, the country's only designer and manufacturer of fast chargers for electric vehicles, will accommodate essentially all makes and models of EVs in Australia. They are used in 22 countries, by international infrastructure providers including California-based ChargePoint, Germany's Stromnetz, and Finland's Fortum Charge & Drive.
The company, whose other backers include engineering firm Varley Group, quadrupled its sales between fiscal 2016 and 2018 and is recruiting an additional 100 staff this year. It is the leading supplier of chargers for Queensland's Electric Super Highway initiative announced last October but its major markets are overseas, including Norway, Germany, the US and New Zealand.
Mr Lund said Jindabyne will be the first site to get a fast-charger, later this month.
"That's because we want people with EVs to still feel confident driving to the snow and driving to the mountains," he said, adding that the remaining 39 charging stations would be set up over the rest of the year.
"That covers some of the key NSW and ACT road trips," he said. "We'll look beyond once we've done that."
Non-NRMA members will pay about $2 for a charge at the stations.
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