London – ZipCharge, the world’s first portable EV charging company, has won the CogX 2022 Decarbonizing Cities Award, backed by Shell. The award for best Decarbonizing Cities StartUp was given in recognition of the ZipCharge portable EV power bank, which the company aims to democratize access to energy to provide clean, low-cost energy wherever people need it – to charge an EV, power the home or access energy on the go.
The CogX Festival is a celebration of groundbreaking innovation and the change makers having a positive impact on the world. The CogX Awards recognize and celebrate the innovators and changemakers who are making a positive impact globally. The Decarbonising Cities award specifically looks for start-ups leading the way to a cleaner energy future for cities. Shell, partnering with CogX, searched for unique solutions to systematically integrate energy generation and storage in cities on a large scale.
ZipCharge Co-founder Jonathan Carrier “We are delighted to win the Decarbonising Cities competition at CogX. The team at ZipCharge are passionate about improving our environment and building more resilient cities through innovation and this award underlines our commitment to delivering on that promise. We are grateful to the panel which comprised leading innovators and investors from Shell Ventures, Startupbootcamp, Lakestar, and Energy Unlocked”.
Shell VP Computational Science & Digital Innovation Dan Jeavons “ZipCharge are a prime example of a start-up with the vision and technical ability to produce a product that could transform the urban environment. Their portable EV power bank will help democratize EV ownership and significantly reduce carbon in cities”.
Launched publicly in November 2021, ZipCharge has developed to Go from a concept to B Sample prototype, ready for real-world trials, and are on track to enter production and deliver the first units to customers in quarter two of 2023.
ZipCharge is developing the Go based upon the same rigorous engineering approach 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. The company’s engineers are currently optimizing the performance of 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 behavior, charging performance, safety, durability and full functionality to ensure a seamless and safe ownership experience for everyday charging.
The Go is the first element of a global platform, which also includes the recently announced GoHub public infrastructure concept, that combines hardware, software, machine learning and innovative ownership models to bring affordable, practical EV charging to more people than ever. The platform also provides intelligent energy management to help lower energy costs in the home, while providing increased flexibility and resilience for the national power grid.
Realizing that widespread EV adoption would be hampered by the inability to charge near or at home, ZipCharge co-founders Richie Sibal and Jonathan Carrier identified and developed a solution. Using their decades of experience in automotive electronics systems engineering and product development gained at cutting-edge businesses like McLaren Automotive, Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, Gordon Murray Group and LEVC – their answer is the Go.
