Tritium unveils new EV fast chargers

Tritium introduces the PKM, an innovative fast charging solution that creates a unique DC microgrid architecture designed for more cost-effective operations.

It’s described as an industry first that allows the company to create a pool of shared power for the full system to access.

The PKM150 is the first charger in the PKM line and the first that enables a shared power system, designed to reduce customers’ capital investment while maintaining high charger availability and power output to EVs.

Brisbane-headquartered Tritium, a leading global developer and manufacturer of DC fast charging technology for EVs which is also in New Zealand, says its PKM line is designed to break the linear relationship between the power conversion equipment which manages the electrical grid feed to the site, and charger power output, which manages electricity delivery to an EV.

This development grants charge point operators the freedom to share one central source of converted DC power around the site.

Since the infrastructure is shared, less equipment is needed, enabling operators to deploy more charging stations and increase the number of fast chargers available for EV drivers, Tritium says.

“One of the biggest challenges in the EV charging industry right now is increasing utilisation without increasing driver waiting times for a charge,” Tritium co-founder and chief growth officer David Finn says.

“Operating and capital costs are traditionally proportional to peak power requirements, yet the revenue our customers generate comes from average power delivery,” he explains.

“The PKM provides a new, distributed architecture that delivers unique site capital efficiency and scalability. With the PKM150, we’ve built a strong foundational model for this new platform that will offer our customers the opportunity to deploy more capital efficient sites, which will in turn allow them to build more charging sites across their networks.”

The PKM150 system leverages Tritium’s patented liquid-cooled modular design, pioneered with the company’s award-winning RTM fast charger, and provides customers with the opportunity to choose between 50kW, 100kW or 150kW of dual-cable charging station power to meet their business needs.

The chargers’ modular construction makes them faster and easier to service and build compared to non-modular systems, Tritium says.

Through the modular design, Tritium can provide customers with chargers, components and modules that have been rigorously field tested and are interchangeable between models. This vision is already being realised, with up to 80% of the same components being used between the RTM and PKM150 charging stations.

“Our customers are critical to Tritium’s success, and through our more than 10 years of fast charging experience they have provided Tritium with the valuable insights and a description of the features they need to optimise their business,” Tritium chief revenue officer David Toomey says.

“The PKM150 leverages customer feedback along with the data and knowledge Tritium has acquired from delivering more than 3.6 million high-power charging sessions, to provide Tritium’s highest degree of product performance and flexibility,” he adds.

“With the PKM150, our customers can truly grow and scale their fast-charging infrastructure to meet rapidly evolving industry, growing driver and battery technology demands through our advanced hardware and software.”

The DC microgrid unique to the PKM architecture transmits power across the system at 950V DC rather than 400V alternating current (AC). This design reduces the gauge of cabling in half, which can lead to up to tens of thousands of dollars in savings for small charging sites and hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for large charging sites, Tritium says

“We’ve reached a tipping point and transportation as we know it is experiencing a major transition,” Tritium chief executive Jane Hunter says.  

“Economies are moving from oil powered transport to transport powered by electricity, and with that, we believe internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles are becoming an obsolete technology.”

The latest announcement follows Tritium’s record-setting sales in the third calendar quarter of 2021, and precedes an anticipated public listing for the company on the Nasdaq in January 2022, through a business combination with Decarbonisation Plus Acquisition Corporation II (NASDAQ: DCRN, DCRNW, DCRNU).