Shaun Maidment crossed South Africa in an electrical automotive, a BMW i3, earlier than there was a community of charging infrastructure alongside the nationwide routes – and he has a heck of a narrative to inform about his journey.
Charging infrastructure alongside South Africa’s nationwide routes is now so commonplace {that a} cross-country journey in an EV is a every day prevalence.
However this was not all the time the case, and drivers within the early days of EVs in South Africa typically needed to depend on their wits and the kindness of strangers to maintain their batteries charged on long-distance journeys.
Maidment is one in all South Africa’s unique EV fans.
Because the proud proprietor of what was as soon as formally recognised because the highest-mileage BMW i3 in Africa – it now has 365 000km on the clock – he dared to journey throughout the size and breadth of South Africa lengthy earlier than charging infrastructure was commonplace.
Maidment tells the TechCentral Present’s Nkosinathi Ndlovu about:
- What impressed him in 2017 to take his first drive from Johannesburg to Cape City in an EV;
- How he deliberate the journey, realizing that on the time there weren’t sufficient charging stations alongside the best way;
- Some anecdotes from his travels, together with the fascinating folks he met alongside the best way;
- What his travels have taught him about one of the best ways to drive an EV;
- How a lot mileage he’s getting out of his i3 in comparison with when it was new; and
- His ideas on the way forward for electrical mobility in South Africa.
Maidment’s insights on EVs are based mostly on years of non-public expertise. This episode of the present is to not be missed.
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