The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) is replacing 24 electric car chargers sourced from Australian firm Tritium as it overhauls and expands its charging network.
The organisation will replace first-generation Tritium DC chargers as it commits to a “significant upgrade” of its network.
“It is time to replace the first-generation technology with new high-quality chargers of varying speeds,” said RACV general manager energy Greg Edye.
“RACV has committed to a significant upgrade of all its new and existing charging stations. We will be installing Kempower hardware as our replacement chargers, which are like-for-like replacements in terms of charging output – that is, a combination of 50kW chargers and 350kWs,” Mr Edye told CarExpert.
The new chargers will be installed at RACV’s seven public charging sites: Euroa, Barnawartha North, Airport West, Torquay, Horsham, Moe and Ballarat. The organisation has 30 charging stations across these seven sites.
The RACV will also add new AC and DC chargers across its Victorian RACV Clubs and Resorts.
It’s deploying six new 50kW DC chargers, capable of charging to 80 per cent in between 1-2 hours. It’s also replacing 22 of its existing AC chargers, with the new units ranging from 7kW to 22kW.
It currently has 25 AC charging stations across its seven Clubs and Resorts – Melbourne City Club, Healesville, Cape Schanck, Cobram, Inverloch, Goldfields and Torquay – and its Noble Park office.
“RACV are also looking to further invest in locations which tie in RACV Club and Resort facilities to customers visiting from all parts of Victoria and will have further announcements to make on this in the coming period,” said Mr Edye.
The upgrades will commence in February 2024 and are expected to be completed by mid-2025. Customers looking to access the RACV chargers can do so through the Chargefox app.
In 2017, the RACV became a significant shareholder in Chargefox. Later in 2022, it also became a shareholder of JET Charge.
In late 2023, Tritium announced it would stop production of its DC fast-chargers at its Brisbane, Queensland plant and move its operations to Lebanon, Tennesse in the US as part of a plan to become profitable in 2024.
Tritium was once valued at over US$2 billion (A$3 billion) on the NASDAQ, but is now worth a little over US$25 million (A$38 million) and is fighting for survival amid a series of issues, including the quality of its product and its capacity to provide ongoing warranty.
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