ZipCharge, a pioneer in portable electric vehicle (EV) charging, has announced a major milestone for its portable EV charger, the aptly named ‘Go’. The portable charger is now advancing to validation prototype (VP) stage, with designs released for manufacture and hardware testing well underway.
The Go aims to remove a barrier to EV ownership by bringing the possibility of home charging to anyone who can’t currently plug-in at their house. In the UK alone, around 8.5 million or 40% of car-owning households are without designated or off-street parking.
ZipCharge is developing the Go using the same rigorous engineering processes as major car manufacturers. It is building several iterations of prototypes from validation through to pre-production, all of which will undergo an extensive testing regime.
Indeed, the company’s engineers are currently at advanced stages of lab testing the portable EV charger’s key system components, including the NMC lithium-ion battery cells and the ZipCharge-designed bi-directional AC-DC converter. This is to evaluate thermal behaviour, charging performance, safety, durability and full functionality to ensure a seamless and safe ownership experience for everyday charging.
The Go will be able to charge at home, using a standard single phase supply, in just over one hour. It can then be connected to an EV wherever it is parked and deliver 20 to 40 miles of range in around 30-60 minutes (depending on the capacity of the Go charger, the make and model of the vehicle, the temperature and the charging cable).
The Go is the first element of a planned global portable EV charging platform that combines hardware, software, and innovative ownership models to bring affordable, practical EV charging to more people in more places. In future, ZipCharge hopes for its portable EV powerbanks to create an intelligent energy management platform that provides flexibility and resilience for the national power grid.
“Achieving this key milestone in the development of the portable EV charger is a major achievement by our small and dedicated team of expert automotive engineers,” said ZipCharge Co-founder Richie Sibal.
“Drawing on the team’s 170 years of experience in designing automotive electronic systems, including EV control systems, battery modules, power electronics, electrical architectures, functional safety and wiring systems, combined with significant expertise in CAD modelling and design has enabled us to progress from the drawing board to design release in under nine months.”
The Go can be connected to an EV wherever it is parked.
In tandem with hardware testing, the ZipCharge engineering team is also developing bespoke control software and a dedicated mobile application that will allow users to optimise the operation of the portable EV powerbank. This incorporates a suite of security features, including user authentication and the ability to remotely monitor, track and disable the Go charger from their mobile phone, anywhere, thanks to built in 2G/4G connectivity.
“Since our launch at COP26 in November last year, ZipCharge has received an unprecedented level of interest from potential customers around the world. They immediately see the benefit of the Go portable charger to deliver low cost, convenient charging anywhere they park,” said ZipCharge Co-founder Jonathan Carrier.
“We expect to confirm final pricing later this year in Q4 2022 as part of the pre-order process. Our mission is to democratise EV charging, which means the ZipCharge Go will be competitively priced and comparable to the purchase and full installation cost of a fixed home charger.”