Zip Charge Go is like an emergency gas can for your Tesla

Zip Charge Go is like an emergency gas can for your Tesla

The COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, England, was the scene of many big ideas, from halting deforestation to limiting methane emissions. But it was also an opportunity for companies to showcase ways to provide EV owners with more power.

ZipCharge, a U.K.-based startup, presented Go. a battery pack the size of a suitcase, weighing about 50 lbs. With a capacity of 4 kWh, it can charge an EV at 7.2 kW, extending the range of some EVs by 12 to 20 miles on a single charge.

"To encourage people to switch to electric vehicles, we need to create a charging infrastructure that makes charging easier, cheaper, and more convenient," said Jonathan Carrier, co-founder of ZipCharge, in a press release (via Inside EVs). ZipCharge is a solution to a real need."

Not only can drivers keep a ZipCharge Go in their trunk, but hotels and gas stations can also have units available in case the car needs a little more charging to get home.

An 8 kWh version of the ZipCharge Go is also in development, which will add 25 to 40 miles of range.

Powering the Go are high energy density lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide (NMC) battery cells; the Go, as mentioned in the trailer above, is equipped with a bidirectional AC-DC inverter that allows charging from grid to Go and from Go to grid to charge the battery cells. Yes, the Go can actually store energy during off-peak hours and sell energy to the grid.

There is also an app that can monitor the Go's charging; the Go has OCPP-compliant smart charging, wireless updates (like Tesla's), and app-based remote diagnostic capabilities. In short, the Go has built-in 4G to communicate with other Internet-enabled devices.

ZipCharge touts that the Go's built-in AI learns the user's charging habits and recommends to the user which times of the day are best for charging.

Unfortunately, pricing for the ZipCharge Go has not been announced. A leasing program starting at $67/month is planned. Subscribers will include AI software, which ZipCharge estimates will save users $20 to $27 per month; ZipCharge plans to ship units to customers in the fourth quarter of 2022.

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