Australian electric vehicle charging startup Jolt announced today that it is entering the North American market in partnership with Canadian telecommunications company Telus. The strategic alliance aims to install up to 5,000 fast chargers and provide free charging.
Jolt will install EV charging stations in Toronto and Vancouver later this year. As is typical for Jolt, the new charger offers EV drivers 7 kWh of free daily charging. Jolt says that's enough for about 40 to 50 kilometers of driving range, refinanced through advertising, as the charging poles double as large digital billboards.
All sites will rely on the Telus Wi-Fi network and will be available through the carrier.
The launch of Jolt in Canada is the first time Jolt has moved outside of Australia, offering public charging stations in Adelaide, Greater Sydney and most recently Melbourne and Canberra.
"As JOLT's latest international market outside of Australia, this partnership with Telus is just the start of our ambitious plan to build tens of thousands of stations in major cities around the world over the next decade, starting in Canada later this year, ’ said CEO Doug McNamee, shaking.
The startup first announced the goal in 2021, when it secured more than A$100 million ($72 million) in investment through the BlackRock Global Renewable Electricity Fund.
At the time, Jolt said it would use the funds to install 1,000 charging stations over three years. We are awaiting an update on the company's progress*. At the same time, most of its recent partnership announcements contain targets only achieved by 2025.