INTERNATIONAL technology company Delta Electronics is poised to launch its compact, high-performance EV wall charger on the Australian market after showcasing it at the recent All Energy 2023 expo in Melbourne.

The company said that the 50kW charger – designed for users including dealerships, workshops and even apartment complexes – has a 60 per cent smaller footprint than conventional chargers so it fits into tight spaces, can be mounted on a wall or pedestal, and is aesthetically pleasing.

Delta Electronics country manager ANZ and Pacific Islands, Tom Hew, told GoAutoNews Premium that it “hits the sweet spot” of performance, compactness and price.

“As a global manufacturing company, we look at the trends globally as to what the market demands, in particular, Australia,” he said.

“One of the biggest challenges with installing a lot of chargers is the infrastructure or the grid, to support installing large chargers. 

“We felt that the 50kW was the sweet spot for us in terms of giving the end user sufficient charging, and also being just under what may be required for a mains upgrade or a transformer for example. Moreover, with about 96 per cent efficiency, this charger saves on energy and costs.”

Delta Electronics country manager ANZ and Pacific Islands, Tom Hew

“We aimed to balance the two and believe we’ve done that quite successfully.”

Mr Hew said its physical size allowed it to be put very quickly, or very simply, into existing locations.

“We focused on this ‘form and fit’ factor so we went for something with a smaller footprint. The 50kW charger is something that can be installed on a wall or a pedestal so that gives a lot of flexibility.

“It is also aesthetically pleasing so it could go in a more urban area in both indoor and outdoor locations.”

Delta has only started to launch the product which has yet to be installed in Australia.

Mr Hew said that partners have been testing it out and “showed very keen interest.”

“We have deployed this outside of Australia and we’ve had good success with Australia,” he said.

Opportunities exist outside the automotive sector with Delta looking at retrofitting apartment buildings for EV charging.

“There was an upgrade to the National Construction Code that also opened up a lot of opportunities for us with the requirement for new buildings,” he said.

“It also affects existing apartment buildings that are undergoing major works with a requirement for integrated power for charging stations.”

Mr Hew said the growing interest for wall chargers for home and commercial sites was the focus of the EV aftermarket industry.

He said that was attributed to the need for the public to have reliable access to chargers. 

“COVID slowed down a lot of development but that is changing for the better, now,” he said.

“The EV industry is now definitely focused on starting to work more on maintenance and having spares in the country and to have chargers in the right locations.

“It’s now seen as more of a critical infrastructure.”

He said the same renewed development was being applied to regional centres.

“Regional areas are a very important part of our business in Australia,” he said.

“Australians love travelling, so going to a destination and not having access to a charger means you probably can’t get home. As a nation we have to focus on investing more in the regional areas to make sure we have access to chargers and also to the electrical infrastructure.

“One of the beauties of Delta is that it has micro-gid solutions as a turnkey solution that combines an EV charger with a storage battery and photovoltaic inverters so we can get electricity from the sun or wind.”

Mr Hew said that Delta’s next step in charger development was to launch single-phase AC chargers for home users.

“This will be a 7kW charger that we’ll be launching in 2024,” he said.

“We will also look at the 350kW and above market in 2024. This will cater more for the highway locations, for example, because of the fast 20-minute charge time.”