Finland-based electric vehicle charging leader Virta has officially entered the Australian market. In collaboration with Australia-based Tetris Energy, it recently unveiled the country’s first “superfast” EV charger, as per The Driven.
Agreement
The partnership commits to building an initial EV smart charging portfolio worth AUD 30 million, with a particular focus on Victoria.
It is worth noting that the newest fast charger was launched on Thursday and is located at Melbourne University Boat Club. Notably, it is Australia’s first one to be connected to Virta’s network.
Virta and Tetris join forces to advance in the market
The Virta smart charging platform has several capabilities, such as bi-directional charging for “V2G (Vehicle to Grid) charging, smart charging optimization and demand management, and automated invoicing and platform management.”
Meanwhile, Tetris claims its involvement in Virta’s entry into the Australian market will involve site discovery, development work, and finance for EV chargers.
“Our attraction to Virta was that it brings the smarts to the regular charging hardware, particularly around V2G and charging optimisation,” said Tetris Energy director Frank Boland.
The right time for Australia to ramp up the shift to EVs
Boland claims that the time is now for Australian companies to accelerate their installation strategy in the “soon-to-be multi-billion-dollar” EV charging industry.
“The success of fast EV acceleration is highly dependent on the charging infrastructure. From the business point of view the best locations and basis for future market share is laid within the coming next few years,” Boland says.
“Tetris Energy and Virta’s goal is to be the optimal partner for them by bringing the best available solution including Kempower chargers from European markets.”
Elias Pöyry, co-founder and CBO of Virta, commented on why it took the company until the end of 2022 to enter the Australian market.
“Australian federal government as well as the states are strongly committed to the future hydrogen ecosystem, digitalising energy system and stationary battery storages.
“However, the pivotal role electric cars can play in relation to energy storages and hydrogen is not yet truly clear in the strategies,” he said.
“We believe electric cars are in the coming years the most cost-efficient way to provide short term flexibility to energy system as aggregated resources.
“Also, best benefits of the hydrogen ecosystem may be achieved through using hydrogen in the form of electricity in mobility instead of fuel cells.
“Virta is enabling the technologies for state-of-the-art smart charging and energy optimisation with experience from the fastest growing e-mobility markets in Europe to allow fast growth of Australian players in the industry.”
About Virta
Since 2015, Virta has played an essential role in several of Europe’s largest EV industries. In fact, over 500,000 EV owners and 250,000 charging stations have joined its network.
According to its website, Virta aims to “solve the climate crisis by bringing electric mobility to people’s daily lives and to the energy system.” Furthermore, it claims to “move the world sustainably by connecting electric mobility and sustainable energy with the most cost-efficient and reliable EV charging platform.”
About Tetris Energy
The main business of Tetris Energy, a division of Tetris Capital, is the development of solar and battery storage projects. The Australian company announced its entry into e-mobility in April, with a Memorandum of Understanding with Virta as the first step.
