U.S. President provides backing for Brisbane-based EV charging company

U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Tritium chief executive officer Jane Hunter in a press conference at the White House this week to celebrate the Brisbane-based electric vehicle (EV) charging company’s announcement that it would establish a large-scale manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Tennessee.

The new manufacturing facility is expected to house up to six production lines, employ more than 500 people over the next five years and produce more than 10,000 DC fast charger units per year, with the potential to produce approximately 30,000 units per year at peak capacity.

Tritium said production is expected to start at the Tennessee facility sometime in the third quarter of 2022.

Biden, who recently announced $7.5 billion ($AU10.45bn) to build out a national network of 500,000 EV chargers along highway corridors in the U.S, said Tritium’s decision to establish a factory in Tennessee ties in with his vision for “electrifying” transportation.

“When we wrote, and passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we included $7.5 billion for electric vehicle chargers, like the one Jane brought along today,” he said.

“And later this week, we’re going to announce a state-by-state allocation for $5 billion of the funding for these chargers so states can start making plans to build out what will become a national network of electric vehicle chargers.

“Tritium’s new facility is going to produce up to 30,000 of these chargers every year. And they’ll be installed up and down the highways and corridors in our communities all across the country.”

Hunter, who last month oversaw Tritium’s Nasdaq listing, said the company’s U.S. expansion is part of a global trend to provide fast EV charging solutions to the “masses”.

“Tritium’s investment in a U.S.-based, cutting-edge facility for manufacturing is part of our strong push toward global growth in support of the e-mobility industry,” she said.

“We are thrilled to work with the U.S. Federal Government and the state of Tennessee on this initiative. With the help of the hard-working residents of Tennessee, we expect to double or even triple our charger production capacity to further our product distribution throughout the United States.”

The company is also expected to announce the expansion of its European manufacturing capacity, through expansion of existing facilities or establishment of new facilities, in 2023.

Founded in Brisbane in 2001 by David Finn, James Kennedy and Paul Sernia, Tritium launched its first DC fast charger in 2014. Since then it has become a leading global supplier of EV refuelling infrastructure, with a sales and support footprint in 41 countries across four continents, and an extensive list of customers including Shell, BP, BMW and Ionity which has the largest fast-charging DC network across Europe.

Preliminary revenue figures provided by Tritium show that for the 12 months up to December 31, 2021, the U.S. and European markets each accounted for approximately 43% of the company’s revenue, compared to approximately 23% and 68%, respectively, for the 12 months ended June 30, 2021.

Despite the growth of its global markets, Hunter has previously said the company will continue to “build out of Brisbane to service the Asia-Pacific region”.