Portable EV charging developer ZipCharge has announced its latest addition to EV infrastructure with the GoHub. This modular, portable public charging station can be installed anywhere on a footprint the size of a parking space – no matter if its the single-sided 5 charger layout, or the double-sided 10 unit version. The GoHub houses ZipCharge’s Go EV power banks that provide portable energy to both owners and subscribers.
ZipCharge is a global portable EV charging network based in the UK with a mission to democratize the charging process for all EV owners, particularly those who don’t have designated off-street or home parking to replenish their vehicles. The company website explains:
The ZipCharge portable charging platform combines hardware, software, machine learning and innovative ownership models to make EV charging more affordable, convenient, and lower cost by utilizing the charger as a local energy storage device to provide flexibility and resilience for the grid through the ZipCharge intelligent energy management system.
ZipCharge’s portable EV charging network includes the Go, a rolling power bank that was unveiled at COP26 in November of 2021. The ZipCharge Go is currently for sale to own, but with its latest offering, the company looks to introduce Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) by renting Go chargers from its new modular GoHubs.
ZipCharge looks to bring portable EV charging to the masses
The company announced the new GoHub in a recent press release sharing some details of its modularity and potential for cheaper, more convenient portable EV charging. The GoHub is a new form of EV infrastructure that can be implemented in any setting, whether it’s rural or urban.
Furthermore, each GoHub can be customized to fit the needs of a given location and its surrounding community. As you can see in the image above, renewable energy resources like solar and wind can be installed on the roof to help power over 100 kWh of second-life batteries within the hub that store energy.
These batteries can then recharge the portable Go powerbanks, but also supply energy back to the electrical grid during peak hours. ZipCharge co-founder Jonathan Carrier spoke to the potential of the GoHub as the need for EV charging infrastructure grows:
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. 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.
Thanks to its modularity, the GoHubs can soon provide portable and sustainable EV charging to streets, parking garages, offices and private locations. As these GoHubs begin to be installed, EV owners will have the choice to purchase their ZipCharge Go outright for their own personal use, or subscribe to the company’s EaaS model and pay a monthly fee to rent Go chargers from their nearest GoHub when needed.
The ZipCharge Go chargers will be available to rent 24 hours a day and can be reserved ahead of time in the company’s app. As a customer approaches, the corresponding bay door of the GoHub will automatically open for them, allowing them to grab their portable EV charger and go.
That’s not all this technology can do either. Carrier once again spoke to the company’s potential and made some bold predictions about the future of EV charging infrastructure.
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.
ZipCharge better get moving if it wants to implement 100k GoHubs by 2030. The first hubs are scheduled to be installed in the UK in 2023 with plenty more to follow. Keep an eye out for them and let us know if you see one!
Check out the new ZipCharge GoHub launch video below:
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