Australia’s Tritium has taken the biggest order for its home-grown electric vehicle fast-chargers to date, inking a new deal with fuel giant BP.
The global leader of direct current (DC) rapid chargers confirmed BP has purchased a mix of its 50kW RTM and 150kW PKM chargers.
They’ll be used by fleets and the general public across the BP Pulse charging network.
BP plans to expand the network across Australia, the United States, and Europe including the United Kingdom.
Australian-built chargers will continue to be rolled out locally while other markets are expected to source theirs from Tritium’s new US plant.
Tritium opened a factory in Lebanon, Tennessee in August 2022, which it expects to produce 30,000 chargers per year at full maturity.
The company’s plant in Brisbane, Australia, at full capacity, will produce 5000 chargers per year.
It’s unconfirmed the exact number of chargers BP has ordered from Tritium for each continent and what its rollout plans are.
Tritium, which listed on the Nasdaq last year, is tapping into growing global demand for chargers. The company expects as many as 35 million electric vehicles to be in use by 2030 by US drivers alone.
Tritium CEO Jane Hunter (second from right)
April 2022 saw Tritium and BP sign a multi-year contract to produce charging stations globally for BP Pulse.
“As BP’s EV charging infrastructure grows worldwide, Tritium is a natural choice for this order,” said BP Pulse CEO Richard Barlett.
“Tritium has a global presence and industry-leading DC fast charging technology – we’re looking forward to putting these chargers to work across three continents.”
BP Pulse launched its Australian charging network late in 2022, with chargers located at selected BP service stations.
It plans to expand to 50 locations nationwide by the end of 2023, and ultimately offer 600 charging points across Australia and 100,000 globally.
The first phase of the rollout saw chargers installed at “key metropolitan and regional” BP retail locations along Australia’s east coast.
The EV network currently consists of two charging stations in Victoria, four in New South Wales, and four in Queensland.
Rival petrochemical giant Ampol also announced its own network of charging stations, called AMPCharge, in 2022.
AMPCharge rolled out five pilot charging stations across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia and plans to have at least 110 DC charging bays at 19 AmpCharge sites across Greater Sydney and NSW.
