South Africans are warming to electrical vehicles, with the variety of EVs on sale increasing quickly. Many automobile producers have revealed plans so as to add new EV fashions this yr, which bodes effectively for additional native adoption.
Underpinning this development is the parallel improvement of the infrastructure that helps the on a regular basis use of electrical autos: charging stations. In keeping with international charging station finder app PlugShare, there are slightly below 400 publicly accessible charging stations in South Africa – from zero (or near it) simply 15 years in the past.
GridCars is one in all South Africa’s main charging level service suppliers – and the oldest. Registered in 2009, GridCars began life as an automotive producer however rapidly pivoted into charging infrastructure when it realised there was a market hole ready to be exploited.
GridCars started its EV charging station roll-out in earnest in 2014 and now has a community of round 100 publicly accessible charging stations throughout South Africa, stated CEO Winstone Jordaan in an interview this week with TechCentral. He stated about 85% of those charging stations assist DC (direct present) quick charging, whereas the remainder utilise slower AC (alternating present) know-how.
“Our first chargers went into the bottom in late 2013 – a yr earlier than the primary Nissan Leaf got here to South Africa,” Jordaan advised TechCentral in an interview earlier this week.
“By 2016, we may purchase {hardware} cheaper than we may construct it, so we targeted extra on deployment. By 2019, any EV with a 200km or better vary may drive from Johannesburg to Cape City utilizing our community,” he stated.
‘Ecosystem’ view
Jordaan defined that as a pioneer within the charging infrastructure trade in South Africa, GridCars took a strategic, “ecosystem-focused” view of how it might develop its community. In additional mature markets, he stated, new gamers usually deploy charging stations based mostly on the likelihood {that a} chosen website will likely be worthwhile. However GridCars selected to “open routes” so EV drivers may journey throughout the nation, despite the fact that a few of its extra distant stations are used much less steadily and are subsequently much less worthwhile (in the event that they’re worthwhile in any respect).
“We see one or two cross-country highway journeys daily now,” he stated. “There are slightly below 5 000 cost periods per thirty days on the general public community. If we embody the home-charging stations, then we are able to estimate that not less than 3.5 million kilometers are pushed in electrical vehicles in South Africa each month.”
Learn: All the electrical vehicles on the market in South Africa in 2025 – with costs
With 110 publicly accessible charging stations in its community, Rubicon – led by CEO Greg Blandford – is one other frontrunner within the race to deploy charging infrastructure throughout the nation. Like GridCars, Rubicon’s journey didn’t begin in charging infrastructure. The truth is, the corporate has been concerned in South Africa’s automotive trade for nearly 40 years, supplying “unique tools producers” (OEMs) reminiscent of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen with tools used within the car-making course of.
Following a choice to determine an electrical mobility unit, Rubicon in 2022 started constructing charging stations for OEMs like Audi and BMW, with work by itself charging community commencing later that very same yr. Of the 110 chargers Rubicon has constructed nationwide, 80 are owned and operated by Rubicon.
In keeping with Blandford, about half of Rubicon-managed charging stations assist DC quick charging. The corporate goals so as to add one other 150 charging stations to its community within the subsequent few years.
That is smart on condition that Rubicon information reveals that the whole variety of charging periods doubled in 2024 in comparison with the earlier yr, reflecting the expansion within the variety of EVs on South African roads.
“The onerous half is discovering the appropriate place to maximise the variety of vehicles that may use that station, so visitors flows and EV focus are vital components,” stated Blandford.
Rubicon charging stations are discovered at petrol station forecourts, resort parking areas and buying malls. In keeping with Blandford, though fast-charging DC stations are sometimes preferable, discovering a website with ample electrical capability could be a problem, which is why malls – since they’re engineered to deal with this form of electrical load – are one of many best locations so as to add DC quick chargers.
Each GridCars and Rubicon report that charging station development is excessive within the non-public sector, particularly within the logistics sector the place firms investing in electrical mobility are including charging capability to their in a single day parking amenities.
Off-grid stations
Some lodges and Airbnbs additionally add their very own charging stations for friends (so-called “vacation spot chargers”), and these should not at all times included in apps like PlugShare.
Different operators, like Cost (previously generally known as Zero Carbon Cost) – whose charging stations use solar energy with none connection to the grid – nonetheless have a small footprint. However Cost, which lately launched its first off-grid website close to Wolmaransstad (midway between Johannesburg and Kimberley), has plans to construct a nationwide community of off-grid stations.
Learn: South Africa may nonetheless be an influence participant in EV manufacturing
In keeping with the 2024 Electrical Autos Market Intelligence Report by GreenCape, EV charging infrastructure must develop considerably to facilitate EV adoption to be used instances that stretch past non-public automobile utilization to different types of e-mobility reminiscent of e-taxis and e-buses for public transport, in addition to e-scooters and e-bikes for last-mile supply to assist the rising e-commerce trade. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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