Important news for anyone who wants to own an electric car in South Africa

Motorists who own or plan to own an electric vehicle (EV) can propose and vote on new charging locations provided by South Africa’s largest charge point operator (CPO).

Several companies have established more than 400 public EV charging stations around the country, such as GridCars, Rubicon, and Chargify.

While the majority of these are concentrated in urban areas, many have also been installed along popular long-distance routes, such as the N1 between Cape Town and Joburg, and the N3 between Joburg and Durban.

The location of new charging points comes down to supply and demand, as the stations are expensive and early adoption CPOs face greater financial risk if they set up in area where electricity sales won’t deliver a return on investment.

However, GridCars does give motorists the option to propose new locations for chargers on its Chargepoint Voter map.

Individuals can also vote on locations put forth by other uses.

To access the site, visitors are required to make an account that requires a name, surname, phone number, and email address.

The requirements are necessary to prevent abuse from users creating multiple accounts to inflate the votes for a particular site.

Once signed up, a person can select a location on the map to suggest where they would like a charging point to be installed.

While not every location will be approved, GridCars has built several stations based on user feedback.

Building South Africa’s EV infrastructure – one station at a time

Charging station rollouts have lost momentum in recent years due to issues with grid capacity, but the industry is starting to regain steam.

An undisclosed source told MyBroadband that at least 1,000 new points are set to be installed over the next few years.

Unfortunately, these sites cannot be identified yet, as locations and rollout timelines are competitively sensitive, and most CPOs reserve comment until a site is complete.

One company that is getting in on the growing demand for EV charging points is Eskom, which claimed it would roll out 55 public outlets over the next two years.

The state power company has partnered with GridCars for its first station, and has signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) with the Chinese EV-maker BYD for future projects.

It has become a common practice in the auto industry for manufacturers that sell EVs to install new public chargers when launching their new models.

Brands like Audi and Jaguar have done this in the past, with outlets that can be found in public spaces like mall parking lots.

Another company, Zero Carbon Charge (ZCC), is spearheading a plan to build off-grid charging sites around the country.

Funded by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, ZCC aims to spend R100 million on five new off-grid stations over the next few years.

This is in addition to 120 self-contained off-grid chargers that use solar panels with battery storage and backup bio-diesel generators for emergencies.

The National Automobile Association of South Africa (Naamsa) also plans to construct over 100 charging stations over the next five to seven years.