The forecast revenue for next year is $US170 million and then weve got
$US82 million in backlog, which is just a wonderful, healthy start to the year, she said. So it really is a story of demand outstripping supply and a great problem to have.
Tritium, which is already the worlds second-biggest fast-charging company after Swedish engineering giant ABB, has deployed about 5100
of its units worldwide in 41 countries. The units can be installed anywhere, from shopping centres to road-side rest-stops. Shell is a major customer.
Charging times vary with the size of the unit, but Tritium quotes 10 minutes or less to provide up to 350 kilometres of range to an EV with
its heavy lifter 350 kW charger.
The shipping delays have caused blowout in delivery times from Tritiums only existing
factory in Brisbane to the North American market to as much a three times the normal, and came on top of an international shortage of shipping containers.
When COVID started, it was 42 days from Australia to Europe by boat, and 35 days to North America from Australia, and we had
a
ship that left in September and still has not docked in North America, which is just unheard of, Ms Hunter said.
She said that
meant Tritium, whose backers include energy entrepreneur Trevor St Baker and engineering firm Varley Group, had about $US2 million of stock floating in ships off the Port or Long Beach in California, unable to dock, as at the end of last year.
That was probably the biggest issue for us in terms of the revenue miss, she said, adding another $US2 million or so was
due to the Australian dollar exchange rate.
She described the full-year revenue performance coming in within 7 per cent of what was
planned as fantastic, given were a manufacturing company, and were manufacturing in Australia.
The supply
problems arising for North America are expected to be solved later in 2022 when Tritium expects to have built a US factory in either Texas or Tennessee, allowing the Brisbane factory to be dedicated to the European and Asia-Pacific regions.
North Americas share of Tritiums total revenue had surged to 43 per cent by the end of 2021, putting it on a par with Europe,
which only early in 2021 accounted for about 70 per cent of the mix.
Funding for Tritiums growth will be helped by the SPAC
deal, which will bolster the balance sheet by as much as $380 million, depending on redemptions by Decarbonization shareholders.
While Ms Hunter said Tritium has no concerns about the Decarbonization vote, the level of redemption remains uncertain amid a recent trend
towards a higher rate by SPAC shareholders in the US, as some investors opt to take their money back. That reduces the funds available on the balance sheet.