Tritium opens US plant for EV chargers ‘Made in America’
Australia’s Tritium has opened its factory in the state of Tennessee. President Joe Biden had endorsed the company’s US plant when announced earlier this year since it follows his ‘Buy American’ policy.
The Tennessee facility was announced in February at a press event at the White House with President Biden, National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy and the Director of Made in America, among others. The event highlighted the factory as a key part of the administration’s inflation reduction act.
And Tritium has managed to construct the facility in record time – it took no more than five months to build, thanks to a modular and thus scalable production design. “Like our products, we’ve designed our manufacturing process to be modular and scalable,” said Tritium Chief Operating Officer Glen Casey. “This design allowed us to bring the Tennessee factory online in five months, which is one of the fastest setup times I’ve experienced in my career.”
Tritium targets manufacturing up to 10,000 DC chargers on six lines per year once the facility in Lebanon, Tennessee, reaches total capacity. Tritium expects to create more than 500 jobs in the region over the next five years.
They will initially produce the RTM fast charger and start production on the PKM150 early next year. Tritium expects its DC charger to meet Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Buy America Act standards in Q1 2023.
“It’s crucial that America’s charging infrastructure is built right here in the US,” said Tritium CEO Jane Hunter. It is also a requirement for getting into any contracts that receive funding through the federal government’s infrastructure schemes.
One example is Tritium working with Enel X Way in the US to increase the latter’s network of chargers there. They intend to expand their partnership in line with the US government’s programme to build a national network of 500,000 charging stations under NEVI.
Founded in 2001, Tritium lists as DCFC on Nasdaq and designs and manufactures DC fast chargers for electric vehicles. The Tennessee factory is the first production outlet the Australian company has established in the US.
0 Comments