Tritium and DC-America are building a coast-to-coast EV fast charging network

DC-America EV stations with Tritium DC fast chargers are built on a skid platform, requiring little digging on-site. | Image: Tritium

Tritium and DC-America are partnering to build a nationwide EV fast charging network and have qualified for federal funding to make it happen (via Electrek).

The two companies are linking their tech to build easily deployable charging solutions, where Tritium provides the chargers and DC-America provides the station infrastructure.

“By eliminating the majority of underground conduits and wiring, we are speeding up deployments by greatly reducing the onsite construction as well as reducing installation costs,” said DC-America president Nathan Bowen in an email to Electrek.

The systems will include Tritium’s US-manufactured PKM150 chargers that can fast charge vehicles at a rate of up to 150kW. DC-America will place all the components on a skid, meaning that the station will require minimal digging and will be easy to deploy and transport.

Image: Tritium
Tritium’s PKM150 chargers without any network branding.

Bowen says the company “pre-purchased a considerable stocking order” of Tritium’s chargers and plans to receive them in the first half of 2023. As of publication, Tritium has sold 7,600 chargers worldwide, according to data provided on its website. Recently, Tritium secured a deal to provide chargers to over 100 Taco Bell locations.

Though the DC-America and Tritium deal doesn’t specify how many of its federally-funded stations are in the works, the US is sorely in need of more charging stations. Last month, the Biden administration approved $900 million in funding to 35 states to build out EV chargers, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that’s secured about $5 billion and is distributing $1 billion of it per year until 2026.

Today, there are only about 5,000 non-Tesla DC fast charging stations in the US, hosting a mix of about 10,600 connectors of the widely standardized CCS Combo connector and the (largely) Nissan Leaf-only CHAdeMO port. Electrify America owns one of the larger coast-to-coast networks that consists of more than 800 stations — some including faster 350kW charging speeds that are way ahead of what Tritium is using for this project.