Z Energy And Red Phase Innovate On-the-go EV Charging

Z Energy (Z) – the country’s largest fuel retailer – has partnered with the rapidly growing Kiwi company Red Phase Technologies (Red Phase) to bring new ultra-fast EV chargers to the forecourt, as it continues to support customers shifting to low emission vehicles. Together they hope to build the country’s EV fast charging capacity quicker.

With the support of EECA and Powerco, two Red Phase EV chargers, each capable of delivering up to 200kW of power, are being piloted at Z Waiouru and will become available to Z app customers from Friday 8 September.

Red Phase is making innovative technology that allows the chargers to manage their power output efficiently and reduce grid load. What this means is the EV that's on charge gets the right amount of power specific to their vehicle, giving customers the fastest and most efficient charge possible.

Z is already in the process of building a network of on-the-go, work and home EV charging infrastructure across Aotearoa, says Z’s Head of EV Charging, Kieran Turner.

“We’re leveraging our existing well-established Z service station sites and plan to have EV chargers at 20 percent of these sites by the end of this year. We’ve also launched a home electricity offer targeted specifically for EV drivers and are working with our business customers on providing charging solutions for the workplace.

“We believe partnering with others on this same journey to a low carbon Aotearoa will help us move at scale and pace. Red Phase offer a solution that is unique to the New Zealand market and will enable us to roll out high powered multi-bay sites without relying on costly network upgrades that can add significant time to the installation of EV infrastructure.

“This technology enables us to overcome one of the barriers we face as a charging provider scaling up its EV infrastructure for customers across the country. It means we could offer fast charging at sites sooner than we currently have planned. This pilot will ensure we can test and enhance the technology before rolling it out to other Z sites across the country,” continues Kieran.

Red Phase are just as excited about this partnership.

Red Phase CTO Dr Robert Turner says, “Red Phase’s innovation has accelerated the pace of EV charging progress here in Aotearoa. We are making a transformative shift in EV charging technology and are committed to making our ultra-fast charge solution commonplace in New Zealand before extending it globally.”

Red Phase CEO, Dustin Murdock, shares this excitement, "Red Phase is pleased to be partnering with Z to bring our EV chargers to the New Zealand market, it is a game-changing move for the country. After years of gridlock in the EV charging space, our technology is the beginning of a new paradigm in EV charging across Aotearoa. It's time to leave behind the concerns of range anxiety and long wait times, and welcome a new era of seamless, straightforward, and rapid charging experiences. The future is here, and we're eager to drive it forward."

Z assures customers they won’t be caught short if the Red Phase chargers have to be taken offline to be adjusted throughout this pilot.

“We may need to bring the Red Phase chargers offline throughout the pilot as we make changes based on the learnings and feedback we get from our customers. It is important customers aren’t caught short as we make enhancements, so we’ve got an additional two EV charging bays available at Z Waiouru separate to this pilot.”

The pilot will continue through to September, at which time an additional two Red Phase chargers will be installed to bring even more capacity to the site.

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