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There's no denying it. Car manufacturers around the world are gearing up for an electric vehicles (EV) future, and without an automotive industry of our own, Australia will need to take heed sooner or later.
Queensland based Tritium knows this for a fact, and the company is growing at a remarkable rate< so fast that it's just opened a brand-new innovation centre in Brisbane, the largest of its kind.
The Tritium E-Mobility Innovation Centre in Brisbane is set to support the company's rapid international growth, buoyed by the rising trend of EVs globally.
The company says the shift to these new facilities in Brisbane will help increase production rates and allow for much faster time-to-market, while further enabling the rapid development of technologies which could shape the dominance of EVs worldwide.
The main business of Tritium is not the manufacturing of EVs themselves, rather the vital infrastructure that allows the technology to thrive: chargers.
Tritium first unveiled its EV Fast Charger in 2014, which is now installed in 29 countries and counting.
The company more recently released the most powerful EV charger in the world. This high-power charger is currently being rolled out across Europe and can add 350 kilometres of range to an EV in just 10 minutes.
Though Tritium is the current world leader, they are dedicated to improving their technology even further. Chief technology officer James Kennedy says the new Brisbane facility will make this possible.
"By the end of 2018, we were adding an engineer to the team every week, on average," says Kennedy.
"In engineering circles, this growth rate is unheard of. But as Tritium continues to expand, this rate of growth is absolutely necessary to cater to demand for DC fast charging and high-power charging."
James Kennedy, CTO Tritium
With the backing of a US$3.2 million grant from the Department of Energy in the United States Tritium will use the R&D facility to develop an extremely fast charging system that can connect directly to the grid.
"This is one of several research projects we have on the agenda," says Kennedy.
"By pushing the boundaries of innovation in infrastructure, we'll continue to re-define the possibilities for E-mobility and pave the road ahead for the EV sector."
Inside the Tritium E-Mobility Innovation Centre in Brisbane
The Brisbane-based company has also announced the opening of an innovation centre in Amsterdam.
The centre will be tasked with testing interoperability and enable advances in charging and batteries for EVs.
"The European Centre was developed with the needs of the European Automotive industry in mind and it's now being used by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on a daily basis," says Kennedy.
"Previously, testing had to be carried out at various automotive festivals, or we would have to deliver temporary chargers across borders, in some cases to manufacturers, and seek their return at a later date. The process was cumbersome and hindered innovation."
"With the new Innovation Centre, automotive OEMs now have a base in Europe at which they can work alongside Tritium engineers to solve issues and develop and test all aspects of battery and charger interoperability, including communications and other technical advances inherent in the next wave of EVs."
Photos: Provided
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