Telus and Australian electric vehicle (EV) charging company JOLT will team up to install up to 5,000 public direct current (DC) fast chargers across Canada.

The chargers will also incorporate Telus’ (T-T) public wi-fi capability.

Founded in 2018, JOLT also expanded to New Zealand last year.

“Our partnership with JOLT is just the latest demonstration of TELUS partnering with innovators who share our values, and investing in a healthier, more sustainable future,” Tony Geheran, Telus’ chief operating officer, said in a statement.

“We are already 90 per cent of the way to achieving our goal of using 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025 due to our investments in power purchase agreements, and this collaboration is another significant step forward benefitting Canadians and our environment.”

Users of the JOLT app will be able to access seven kilowatt-hours of free charging per day, which according to a release equates to 40 to 50 kilometres of range and 15 to 20 minutes of charge time, depending on the vehicle. This is feasible thanks to advertising on the charging terminals.

As it is in Australia, JOLT will be 100 per cent powered by wind and solar energy.

Telus plans to become a zero-waste, carbon-neutral company by 2030 and has an interim goal to rely on 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025.

Hillcrest begins manufacturing part of key inverter technology

Vancouver-based Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd. is now manufacturing what it states is the first silicon carbide power module prototype for its Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) technology.

Manufacturing is taking place in Germany via Hillcrest’s (HEAT-CN) strategic partner, Systematec GmbH. Hillcrest retains all intellectual property.

In an EV, a traction inverter takes the high-voltage DC electricity from batteries and converts it into alternating current (AC) electricity for the motor. Hillcrest’s 800-volt, 250-kilowatt ZVS inverter can be applied to batteries, electric motors, generators, fuel cells or any other power source where power conversion is needed.

Hillcrest first unveiled the commercial prototype in December 2022. The design for the silicon carbide inverter was completed in March that year.

“We've already demonstrated industry-leading results with our current ZVS-enabled SiC traction inverter. Integrating these new power modules into our inverter allows us to maximize the benefits of our ZVS technology,” Hillcrest’s chief technology officer, Ari Berger, said in a statement.

“We are now able to deploy further improvements in switching control and operation at higher switching frequencies to achieve even more impressive levels of power density, system efficiency and further reductions in electromagnetic interference behaviour for applications up to 1,000 volts."

The company is also working to implement its ZVS technology into grid applications, such as renewable energy generation and storage and EV charging infrastructure, including vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications. It is in the final stages of developing the proof of concept for a ZVS grid inverter and expects to begin testing later this year.

Hillcrest is also underway with dynamic load demonstration testing on a specialized motor provided by a global tier one automotive supplier at its R&D lab. Results are expected next month.

Exro advances new patents

Exro Technologies Inc. has advanced two new U.S. provisional patent applications on an EV powertrain architecture.

“Exro is thrilled to add two new U.S. provisional applications to its comprehensive intellectual property protection program, which includes over 40 patents published and pending and IP wholly owned in 14 patent families providing or seeking global protection in strategic countries,” Exro CEO Sue Ozdemir said in a statement.

“These new technologies are not only examples of Exro’s commitment to research and innovation, but also promises of the multifold applications our technology and IP present in powertrains across the e-mobility and energy sectors.”

The first application builds on the company’s Coil Driver and Cell Driver foundation by combining motor and battery control with predictive control algorithms to improve EV propulsion systems. This includes up to double the battery cell life, integration of fuel cells without requiring additional DC-DC conversion, and a high level of fault tolerance.

The second application uses a proprietary algorithm to simplify motor control.

Exro (EXRO-T) and its motor partner Traktionssysteme Austria (TSA) expect to launch a European marketing campaign soon. Their combination of a TSA motor and a Coil Driver is expected to be integrated into EVs by this fall.