In its second wave of charging infrastructure investment in South Africa, Audi in partnership with Rubicon has established the country’s first 200kW DC ultra-fast public car charger with solar power as a backup.
This particular station is located at the Mall of Africa in Midrand, Gauteng, and allows compatible electric vehicles (EV) such as the Audi e-tron GT with its 93kWh battery to recharge completely in as little as 15 minutes.
“The solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed at Mall of Africa is one of the largest of its kind in the Southern hemisphere, making this installation a progressive statement towards sustainable charging,” said the manufacturer.
Mall of Africa
In addition to the 200kW feeder, the second wave of installations included four 100kW DC, five 25kW DC, eight 60kW DC, and twenty-five 22kW DC stations.
“These chargers can accommodate a total of 57 EV cars simultaneously, at varying capacities, regardless of model or brand ownership,” said Audi.
The automaker further confirmed it has roaming agreements with both Rubicon and GridCars, the two main EV infrastructure development firms in South Africa, allowing billing cards to be interoperable across the two networks and enabling all EV brands to make use of Audi’s entire grid.
“While load shedding is a reality to which South Africans have become accustomed, it is worth pointing out that our charging network also capitalises on solar installations, where possible, to keep the charging stations optimally operational,” said Sascha Sauer, head of Audi South Africa.
“EVs are the future of mobility and we’re investing not just in hardware infrastructure, but in making electric mobility simpler and more widely available for South Africans, thus enabling the local EV market to grow.”
Charger locations
The 43 newly-added Audi chargers are spread across the provinces as follows:
- Gauteng – 15
- Western Cape – 11
- Eastern Cape – 10
- KwaZulu-Natal – 4
- Mpumalanga – 2
- Free State – 1
This second wave of installations brings the Audi charging grid in South Africa to a total of 127 plugs.
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