Australia's JOLT OOH EV charging startup enters the North American market

Australian start-up JOLT, which offers Australian EV drivers 7 kWh, or around 50 kilometres, of free, fast charging, with the cost of charging offset through JOLT’s integrated out-of-home advertising network, has announced that it will enter the North American market in partnership with leading Canadian communications technology company, TELUS.

The strategic partnership will see JOLT develop and install up to 5,000 street-side fast chargers across Canada, all of which will run on the TELUS network. 

“Canadian cities have some of the highest EV uptake in North America, and free public charging will make it even easier for Canadians to own an electric vehicle. We’re thrilled to partner with TELUS, which, like JOLT, has a focus on sustainability and innovation, to deliver best-in-class customer experiences,” says Doug McNamee, CEO of JOLT, adding, “This partnership with TELUS is just the start of our ambitious plan to build tens of thousands of sites over the next decade in major cities globally, starting in Canada later this year.”

JOLT will begin installing a comprehensive network of EV charging stations in late 2023. The stations will include TELUS’ public Wi-Fi capability, starting in Toronto and Vancouver. Across the JOLT EV charging network, similar to the customer proposition JOLT delivers in Australia, all-electric vehicle drivers can access 7 kWh of free charging per day, which equates to 40 to 50 kilometres of range and 15 to 20 minutes of charge time, depending on the vehicle. Drivers can save approximately $1,000 per annum by charging with JOLT.

With more than 13 million electric vehicles forecasted to be on Canadian roads by 2030, and a need for more than 200,000 public chargers, this partnership will accelerate infrastructure development to meet this high demand, drive the adoption of electric vehicles, and support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Tony Geheran, Chief Operations Officer, TELUS, says, “Our partnership with JOLT is another demonstration of how TELUS partners with innovative companies who share our values, like investing in a healthier, more sustainable future. 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.”

JOLT’s Australian footprint is expanding rapidly, with an 84% increase in the number of chargers operational and a 460% increase in clean energy provided to EV charging customers in the last 12 months. The company has EV charging stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. 

Powered by 100% renewable energy, JOLT has been working to facilitate the growth of EV usage globally. Coupled with TELUS’ dedication to being a world leader in environmental sustainability and using technology for a greener future, this partnership will create more accessible, affordable EV charging in cities across Canada.

For TELUS, the partnership demonstrates its longstanding commitment to leverage its technology, products and services to build a better, more sustainable future. As the only telecommunications company in Wall Street Journal’s top 100 Most Sustainably Managed Companies in the World, the partnership builds on its bold social, environmental and governance strategy, recently shared in the 2022 Sustainability Report, which will enable TELUS to become a zero-waste, carbon-neutral company by 2030, and rely on 100 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2025.