Revolutionary IONITY Charger Unveiled
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 11, 2019 – IONITY, a joint venture between Daimler, Ford, BMW Group and the Volkswagen Group with Porsche AG, has today unveiled its next generation charger, which has been engineered, industrialised and manufactured by world-leading electric vehicle (EV) DC fast charging technology specialists, Tritium.
The unique design – unveiled at the IAA 2019 Motor Show in Frankfurt – features a distinctive Halo atop the charger unit which will change the face of highways and charging areas across the continent. The luminating LED Halo emits enough light to remove the need for additional lighting around the charge site, while also providing a secure, welcoming experience for the recharging driver. Sitting atop a 2.6 metre (over 8.5 feet) tall unit, the charger will act as a beacon for drivers along highways across Europe.
Additionally, the unit features one of the most advanced human machine interface (HMI) screens available to EV drivers, offering seven languages, contactless pay options and a frictionless customer experience.
The first site for the new charger is slated for Greve, Denmark, with the subsequent rollout of the Halo chargers to expand across Scandinavia, particularly in Norway.
“We are confident our revolutionary next generation high power chargers will accelerate the breakthrough momentum of the expanding IONITY network,” said Michael Hajesch, CEO, IONITY. “The new design, featuring innovative lighting solutions, an advanced digital user interface and a class-leading engineered architecture will make charging an EV even more convenient for drivers.
“We chose to work with Tritium because of its engineering expertise and its ability to closely mirror our initial concept as much as possible, with the fewest compromises to the design and the ability to quickly turn around the project.”
The path to industrialising a revolutionary concept
The charger – conceived by IONITY and its partner Designworks – is the result of 18 months of research, engineering and testing from Tritium and a significant co-operative effort between the companies to keep to the original design as much as possible.
“The concept of the chargers was revolutionary from the outset, and with this comes the challenge to industrialise the concept in full,” said David Finn, CEO and co-founder, Tritium. “With few compromises, and thanks to some equally revolutionary and innovative engineering from our team and our expertise in small-footprint design, we proved to IONITY that we could make their vision possible.”
Tritium’s chargers, from its award-winning Veefil-RT 50kW DC Fast (Rapid) Charger to its Veefil-PK 350kW DCH High Power Chargers, benefit from the company’s leadership in small footprint. This leadership and flexibility ensured that Tritium could marry the design to the sleek, slim concept originally planned for IONITY.
As such, the industrialised charger features a nearly flush front-facing compartment. With no bumps, no exposed screws or pop rivets, the charging point is entirely smooth and demonstrates the incredible level of attention to detail in the charger’s design.
Further, the HMI is a one-of-a-kind single-pane-of-glass concept. It incorporates everything from the interface to elements of the charger plug, and its unique design will remain exclusive to the Halo charger. It offers users a service in seven different languages, making the process of charging a vehicle as simple and stress-free as possible, while customers of mobility service providers (MSPs) can pay directly via their contactless cards or tokens for tap-and-go payments.
“These are true state-of-the-art chargers which will revolutionise the look and feel of highways across the continent,” said Finn. “When people see these bright halos shining in the distance, they’ll know they can soon charge easily and at the fastest rate possible.”
The IONITY next-generation Halo charger launch follows a run of news featuring unique research, development, engineering and expansion across the globe from Tritium.
Earlier this year, the company LAUNCHED ITS TRITIUM E-MOBILITY INNOVATION CENTRES in Brisbane, Australia, and Amsterdam in order to cater for the increased demand in bespoke solutions such as those requested by IONITY.
Recently, the company announced it signed a deal in the United States with SSA Marine TO SUPPLY THE PORT OF LONG BEACH IN CALIFORNIA WITH 33 MODIFIED VEEFIL-PK 175KW DC HPCS – which will be equipped with a Quick Charging Connector (QCC) from Stäubli – to enable the fast charging of the port’s entire fleet of electric-drive terminal tractors automatically and simultaneously. The project represents the largest automated vehicle charging program at any port in the US.
Last year, the company announced it was receiving a portion of $3.2 million in federal funding awarded to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) by the Department of Energy, to develop an extreme fast-charging system that can connect directly to the distribution grid. The EPRI allocated about US$400,000 for Tritium to develop a custom version of its Veefil-PK high-powered charging head, along with providing input for system design and testing.
Form follows function
The next-gen IONITY chargers are capable of 350kW DC charging and can add 350km/220mi of range to an EV in 10 minutes.
IONITY recently signed deals with Tritium which ensures that Tritium’s chargers – a mix of the existing Veefil-PK installations and soon the next-gen Halo charger – will be installed at 220 of the planned 400 sites across Europe, with up to six chargers to be installed at each site.
“IONITY has a clear vision for the future of EV charging, and the sheer number of chargers and the speed at which they can charge an EV will all but eliminate range anxiety in Europe,” said Finn. “The biggest hindrance to the ubiquity of EVs across the globe is the availability of fast and ultra-fast charging, but IONITY’s network ensures that EV drivers will be able to drive whenever and wherever they want.”
In all, IONITY’s network will establish 2,400 charging points across Europe, enabling hassle-free pan-European EV travel. The 350kW charging network is future-proofed and ensures that e-mobility will be a convenient, reliable and everyday experience.
IONITY has teamed up with site partners across Europe ensuring that more than 90 per cent of the planned IONITY network has already been covered.
About Tritium
Tritium is a technology company that designs and manufactures the world’s most advanced DC fast-charging equipment for electric vehicles (EV). Established in 2001 to provide power-electronic systems and battery energy-storage applications, Tritium became one of Australia’s fastest-growing companies with the launch of its first DC fast charger in 2014. Since then, Tritium has become a leading global DC fast charging (DCFC) supplier with installations in more than 29 countries. Tritium currently holds around 50 per cent of the world-leading market in Norway and around 15 per cent of the wider global market for 50kW fast chargers. Tritium customers include The NRMA, Chargefox, Charge.net.nz, EDF Lumins, Fortum, Grønn Kontakt, IONITY and Stromnetz. Tritium’s global headquarters and main manufacturing plant is in Brisbane, Australia. Additional sales and manufacturing facilities in Amsterdam and the Los Angeles region ensure attention to key markets in Europe and the Americas. For more, visit WWW.TRITIUM.COM.AU.
For Tritium Media Inquiries:
Cameron Wells, Public Relations
P: +61 2 9929 7533
E: [email protected]
About IONITY
IONITY is headquartered in Munich and was founded in 2017; it is a joint venture of the BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company, and the Volkswagen Group with Porsche AG. The goal of the joint venture is to build an extensive and reliable 350 kW High-Power-Charging network (HPC) for electric vehicles in Europe to make comfortable long-distance travel a reality. IONITY has attractive national and international locations through its strong partners. IONITY is an internationally registered trademark.
IONITY GmbH
Paul Entwistle
Public Relations
Mobile +49 151 68 91 70 73
Email: [email protected]
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