Charging ahead

For 33 years now, the World Solar Challenge has raced small and fragile contraptions down the Sturt Highway from Darwin to the outskirts of Adelaide to show that cars can run cheaply and efficiently solely on the sun’s rays. The early involvement of one local techie is now paying off in a big way.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are selling big time in Europe, China and the US as battery technology rapidly advances. New models from the likes of Tesla, VW, Mercedes and China’s BYD are cheap to charge and have longer ranges. Brisbane’s David Finn is a key part of this revolution with the business he founded, Tritium, because it makes advanced battery chargers that keep EVs juiced up. Looking a lot like petrol pumps, these Aussie-built devices are now sold the world over.

They are sorely needed. If