Tritium opens first global DC fast charger factory in Tennessee, USA

Tritium’s new Tennessee facility. Image: Tritium.

Tritium ($DCFC) is an Australian success story. The DC fast charger manufacturer started in Brisbane, and quickly expanded to the point where the company decided to shift operations to the United States. The company has seen record growth in sales and revenue, earning between $50 and $60 million USD per quarter. In January this year, they even listed on the NASDAQ after a merger with special purpose acquisition company Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp.

Now, Tritium has opened its first US-based EV fast charger manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Tennessee. The facility will employ more than 500 Tennesseans over the next five years, helping to build EV charging infrastructure and meet US government goals for the electrification of transport. Once fully operational, the facility will host six production lines and produce up to 30,000 DC fast charger units per year.

Tritium’s Tennessee facility will initially produce the RTM fast charger, followed by the PKM150 early next year. Tritium’s PKM150 fast charger is expected to meet Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Buy America Act standards in Q1 2023, making that fast charger an ideal candidate for National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program funding.

The PKM150s are unique because customers can connect up to four fast chargers to one power cabinet, saving money on equipment, installation, and maintenance. The modular system allows upgradeability, with servicing and replacement taking just minutes. This flexibility gives customers the ability to choose between 100kW or 150kW of dual-cable charging station power depending on their business needs.

The Tritium PKM150. Image: Tritium

“The opening of our Tennessee factory is an important milestone for Tritium, for Tennessee and most importantly, for American drivers. As many as 35 million electric vehicles are expected to be in use by 2030 and those vehicles will require more powerful and convenient charging infrastructure,” said Tritium CEO Jane Hunter. “It’s crucial that America’s charging infrastructure is built right here in the US. Americans will rely on it to get to work, to school, to doctor’s appointments, and more. It needs to be reliable, and it needs to be able to grow to meet their needs. And when we make chargers here in the US, we reduce supply chain and shipping delays, and we help build the manufacturing ecosystem that will employ more Americans.”

The Tennessee facility was announced in February at a press event at the White House with President Biden, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Director of Made in America at the Office of Management and Budget Celeste Drake, among others. The Tritium manufacturing facility was highlighted as a key part of the Biden administration’s initiative to create clean energy jobs and reduce carbon emissions.

EV Brief’s take

It’s wonderful to see how far Tritium has come from its humble origins in Brisbane, Queensland. Tritium does have some problems to solve however; with strong sales growth and continued worldwide parts/logistics delays, the company has found delivering customer orders and spare parts to be a challenge. We hope these new units can improve on the reliability and uptime of current model DC fast chargers.

With the increasing EV demand and subsequent increased DC charger usage in Australia, EV drivers have found Tritium units to be offline, or broken for weeks or even months. We’ve also documented our own experiences with failed chargers. While charging networks such as Chargefox and Evie Networks have tried to placate customers’ concerns and complaints, they are often hamstrung by delays in spare parts or technicians able to repair the units. Combined with the increase in price for high-powered 350kW chargers from both providers to $0.60/kWh, it is understandable Australian consumers are sometimes angry.

Ampol launches 5 EV rapid charger trial sites ahead of AmpCharge national rollout in 2023

Charging the Ioniq 5 at AmpCharge’s Alexandria site.

Are petrol (gas) stations doomed to go the way of the video store in the future? Ampol Australia thinks not, and is increasing investment at its retail locations, becoming the first petrol retailer in the country to move into e-mobility.

Known as Ampol AmpCharge, the company this week launched five trial EV rapid charging sites across Australia.

Matt Halliday, Ampol Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said this announcement is an important step forward in the execution of Ampol’s future energy and mobility strategy, including its objective to reduce emissions in the transport sector and support the uptake of battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

“As we begin to evolve our national network, consumers will see AmpCharge in Ampol service stations, depots and terminals right across the country. For the first time, we’ll also be entering homes, workplaces and shopping centres as we seek to deliver simple and efficient charging solutions at convenient locations to keep people moving.”

The five pilot sites include Ampol service stations in the following Australian locations:

• Carseldine QLD

• Alexandria NSW

• Northmead NSW

• Altona North VIC

• Belmont WA

These sites feature a single ABB 180kW DC chargers with ChaDeMo and CCS plugs. The maximum power delivery is capped at 150kW at the moment, which is already more than many EVs on the market can accept. Ampol promises solar panel systems and battery storage provisions will be installed at each site, though we couldn’t see any evidence of this (yet) during our visit to the Alexandria site this week.

CEO Matt Halliday and EGM of International & New Business Brent Merrick officially open the Alexandria AmpCharge site along with Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister and CEO of Australian Renewable Energy Agency Darren Miller. Image: Ampol Australia

A quick walkthrough of the AmpCharge Alexandria site.

What’s the charging experience like?

Great - if you don’t mind the ambience of a service station (albeit a clean one). There are cafes and eateries nearby though, and some customers were sitting at the tables and chairs provided by the entrance to the shop. As a co-branded Woolworths Metrogo site, there’s a good selection of food and drinks in store.

I tested the charging site with a Hyundai Ioniq 5 currently on loan from Hyundai Australia. Ampol/Woolworths staff were friendly and helpful, offering assistance as customers approached. I also met Daniel, who had just turned up with his one week old Ioniq sedan - the last in Australia.

Arriving with 60 percent state of charge, the Ioniq 5 took 90-95kW of power for a good 10 minutes, eventually consuming 21.05kW in 15 minutes and 20 seconds. See the summary from the app below:

The end of charging session summary from the AmpCharge app.

Unfortunately EV drivers will have to add another EV charging app to their smartphones to activate the charger; I now have 5 charging apps on my device. Understandably, charging operators want to provide a “tailored experience” for users, and also collect as much valuable data as possible, but as many people point out, we don’t have different cards for different fuel stations, and EV’s should be no different.

I’d even be prepared to pay a slight premium for charging anonymously, if it allowed me to just tap a credit card to start the charging session.

These chargers are free to use until August 31, and form part of an initial roll out totalling close to 120 sites by October 2023, as part of a funding agreement with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) through the Future Fuels Fund.