ZipCharge has revealed the GoHub, the world’s first portable electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure for shared, public use. The GoHub aims to revolutionise public charging provision, providing a community-based solution that can be installed anywhere, at a much lower cost and at a much faster rate, while enabling any parking space to be a charging spot.
EV owners will now have the choice to purchase the Go outright, on subscription or rent one through the GoHub.
The GoHub hosts multiple ZipCharge Go EV powerbanks and is a secure way of housing, recharging, and providing access to the ZipCharge Go so that anyone can access a portable powerbank at the lowest cost. The GoHub is modular and flexible in size, suitable for a diverse number of locations, including on-street, in car parks, at work and in private environments.
“We intend to establish the world’s first vertically integrated ‘energy point operator’ (EPO) to serve hundreds of millions of people around the world so everyone can access convenient and low-cost energy,” said ZipCharge Co-founder Jonathan Carrier. “The ZipCharge Go and the GoHub enable the storage of clean energy, which can then be distributed for a multitude of uses from charging an EV to powering equipment.
“We predict our portable powerbanks will outsell fixed home chargers by 2030, in the same way mobile phones overtook landlines. That’s because the Go can be used for more than charging EV charging, it’s a portable energy storage device for personal energy management. We have the bold ambition to deploy 100,000 GoHubs globally by 2030 to support EV charging, local grid resiliency and energy democracy.”
In its base form, the GoHub comes in two variants; a single sided unit houses five ZipCharge Go portable powerbanks, or a double-sided GoHub with ten. Both fit comfortably into a regular parking space. It can also be sited on the pavement or close to where power already exists. All GoHubs can be intelligently reconfigured, expanded and connected together with minimal investment, growing in tandem with the adoption of electric vehicles.
“The Go and the GoHub are integral components of our future energy platform, one that combines hardware, software and distributed energy storage in the home and our public energy points to provide a wide range of energy services for our customers,” said ZipCharge Co-founder Richie Sibal.
The Go can be connected to an EV wherever it is parked.
The lightweight ZipCharge Go power bank is the size of a compact wheeled suitcase. Having advanced to validation prototype stage in February, it can now be charged in a GoHub, at home or elsewhere using a standard domestic plug at a lower cost per kWh of electricity when compared to public on-street charging. Using the retractable handle, users then wheel it to wherever they’ve parked their EV and plug it into the charging port. The port locks the charging cable in, securing the charger with the vehicle.
ZipCharge Go provides up to 20 miles of range, providing sufficient range for the average daily commute (in UK/EU), in a little over 30 mins and can then be neatly stored in the trunk / boot, or at home.
Through the GoHub, ZipCharge Go powerbanks will be available to rent 24 hours a day with the option to pre-reserve a Go in the app. As the user approaches, the correct bay door of the GoHub automatically opens. They then pull out the charger from its dock inside the GoHub, wheel it to the vehicle and plug-it in. Once finished, the user is notified on their smart phone, they collect the Go and return it to the bay allocated via the app.
