Which Australian EV fast charging networks win & lose if Tritium gets liquidated?

Fast charger manufacturer Tritium is in a possible terminal situation. What happens after the first and second meetings of creditors will have big implications for Australia's major electric car fast charging networks Evie, Chargefox, NRMA, BP Pulse, Ampol and Tesla.

Long before the Tritium share price fell off a cliff, it's chargers already had a bad reputation amongst Australian electric car drivers because of frequent problems, especially using older Tritium 50kW and 350kW models.

A few days ago Tritium DCFC Limited determined that the Company and three of its Australian subsidiaries, Tritium Pty Ltd, Tritium Holdings Pty Ltd and Tritium Nominee Pty Ltd were insolvent or likely to become insolvent so they appointed KPMG as Voluntary Administrator.

After taking control of the company, the voluntary administrator will investigate and report back to creditors about the company’s business, property, affairs and financial circumstances.

They will also report on the following 3 options available to creditors (including employees):

• end the voluntary administration and return the company to the directors’ control
• approve a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) through which the company will pay all or part of its debts and then be free of those debts
• wind up the company and appoint a liquidator.

The voluntary administrator must give an opinion on each option, including an opinion on any DOCA proposal, and recommend which option is in the best interests of creditors.

If Tritium DCFC and 3 Australian subsidiaries get wound up and liquidated this will have a big impact on Australia's major electric car fast charging networks.

Australian EV drivers with shorter WLTP range eg: 200-350km could be particularly impacted doing EV road trips as they rely on almost all DC fast chargers being available and working.

Owners of EVs with a longer WLTP range 450-500km+ should be OK as they can be more selective about where they charge on an EV road trip.

The following is speculation about which charging networks may win or lose most if liquidation and total shutdown of Tritium DCFC and subsidiaries results.

Winner - Tesla

Tesla makes it's own DC fast superchargers and to the best of my knowledge has no reliance on Tritium parts.

Tesla already has a reputation in Australia as being expensive but also ranking #1 as the most reliable fast charging network.

Tesla superchargers would gain more charging market share if Australian drivers skip nearby Tritium manufactured chargers and use Tesla superchargers instead.

Winner - Ampol Ampcharge

Ampol made a fortunate decision not to buy any Tritium DC fast chargers for their Australian EV charging network.

I have used Alpitronics HyperChargers and ABB Terra184 fast chargers at AmpCharge locations.

Ampol would gain more charging market share if Australian drivers skip nearby Tritium manufactured chargers and drive to an AmpCharge location instead.

Partial Loser - NRMA

The majority of NRMA fast charger fleet are older Tritium models, which will cause big headaches for the motoring association if Tritium gets liquidated.

It's clear that NRMA is frustrated by the unreliable nature of Tritium chargers and the delays in getting spare parts because most of the more recently installed NRMA fast chargers have been alternate brands like ABB and Freewire. There are also signs they may use Kempower in some locations.

A Tritium liquidation could cause problems because in many rural regional locations where NRMA has installed Tritium chargers, they are the only fast charging option in that town.

Older less reliable 50kW Tritium chargers are common in NRMA's network so until these are replaced Australian EV drivers may go to a competitor fast charger instead and avoid NRMA locations using Tritium hardware.

Partial Loser - Chargefox

Unlike Evie which owns and operates chargers, Chargefox is more like Airbnb because it provides an app, customer service and payment processing but doesn't own or repair the actual chargers.

There are a lot of Tritium manufactured chargers on the Chargefox network but as a percentage this share dropped significantly even before Tritium went under voluntary administration, because Western Australia and South Australia have been installing lots of Kempower manufactured chargers on the Chargefox network during 2023/24.

A few months ago RACV wisely decided to follow SA and WA's example, so RACV is already underway in ripping out all of it's Tritium chargers and replace them with Kempower instead.

Older less reliable Tritium chargers in Chargefox locations are common in VIC, NSW, QLD so if Tritium is liquidated Australian EV drivers there may go to a competitor fast charger instead and avoid Chargefox locations using Tritium hardware.

Major Loser - Evie Networks

Of Australia's major electric car fast charging networks Evie will be the most negatively impacted if Tritium gets shutdown because so far Evie has almost exclusively used Tritium chargers for it's large charging network.

Why did Evie only use Tritium? My guess is it is because Evie and Tritium are known to have a common major financial backer.

There are a lot of clever people working at Evie and I assume they have contingency plans for a Tritium collapse eg: warehouses of spare parts and contacts at other charging manufacturer to purchase from instead.

If Tritium gets liquidated this could cause problems because in many rural regional locations such as across Victoria where Evie has installed single Tritium chargers, they are the only fast charging option in that town.

Until any existing broken Tritium chargers are replaced with a new brand like Kempower or ABB, Evie could lose charging market share as Australian EV drivers lose confidence and go to a competitor fast charger instead.

Major Loser - bp Pulse

In Australia bp Pulse locations have to the best of my knowledge all used Tritium chargers.

Since they aren't a dedicated EV charging business like Evie, bp Pulse are unlikely to have as good contingency plans for stockpiling Tritium spare parts if these and new chargers are not available.

In the event of a Tritium collapse bp Pulse Australia could lose a lot of charging market share as Australian EV drivers lose confidence and go to a competitor fast charger instead.

Major Loser - Councils and Businesses

Many councils and small businesses like Whyalla Veterinary Clinic bought Tritium chargers to support an Australian manufacturer and provide EV charging to their local community.

Local government and small businesses probably won't have spare cash to rip these Tritium chargers out and replace them with a different brand in the event of Tritium getting liquidated, which means they could decide to cut their losses and not provide public EV fast charging service at that location anymore.