Swedish EV charging tech Amps up

SWEDISH electric vehicle (EV) charging provider Charge Amps will launch a new series of electric vehicle charging products in Australia early next year aimed at providing safe – and stylish – home EV chargers for a variety of climatic extremes.

Promising market-leading durability, the trio of products includes a load balancer dubbed Amp Guard that claims to optimise EV charging while simultaneously tracking household power consumption to prevent accidentally overloading and the tripping of circuit breakers.

The Amp Guard feature may be configured wirelessly and is compatible with most solar power systems.

As well as providing safer EV charging, Charge Amps claims the unit can also help to speed up the rate at which an electric vehicle is charged.

“Charging an EV requires a lot of power during a long period of time – and when the charging is combined with the cooking of food on the stove, the clothes being washed in the washing machine and the ventilation system working at full capacity, for example, there is a risk that the electrical system will be overloaded, and fuses will blow,” explained Charge Amp via its website.

“The Charge Amps Amp Guard, together with Charge Amps Cloud, enables dynamic load balancing, which measures and controls the total loading in the household. In the first place, all available electricity is allocated to the household appliances and thereafter the remaining electricity goes to the EV, which ensures that the electrical system is not getting overloaded.

“And then, when the household uses less energy, all available electricity will go to the EV. This means that the car will be charged faster than without a load balancer.”

Charge Amps has also released its Beam charging cable that offers up to 32A charging at a range of EV fast charging stations that meet the EU standard for Type 2 charging. The cable is sold with a lightweight storage bag.

The company’s newest EV charger, called Dawn, will launch in 2023, and according to its maker is designed to offer an elegant appearance and user-friendly experience, with modular Linux-based software and hardware elements that aim to future-proof the unit.

According to its maker, the unit is designed for use across a broad spectrum of climatic conditions with a safe operating temperature of between -35°C and +45°C.

“We run this company with the conviction that sustainable and intelligent technology will make for a better society. This conviction is clearly reflected in our range and visible throughout, from the software through to our distinctive Scandinavian design,” said Charge Amps CEO Olle Tholander.

“Our new products represent the next generation of sustainable innovation and an even greater user experience.”

Charge Amps did not supply pricing for its 22.0kW Dawn charging station, though similar units offering charging capacities of 7kW (single phase) or 11kW (three phase) retail for around $2000 before installation. 

The Charge Amp Dawn is the latest in a series of home chargers sold by the firm, joining the 22.0kW Aura and 3.7-11.0kW Halo models in its portfolio.

Charge Amps is a Swedish-headquartered provider of electric vehicle charging solutions with a presence in seven countries and across 15 markets.

It aims to vie with a wide range of EV chargers from suppliers such as Jet Charge, Tritium, MyEnergi and others, as well as manufacturer-supplied units from BYD – which recently announced its collaboration with Ampol – as well as MG, Tesla and more.