THE Eastern Cape is home to one of the country’s two main automotive manufacturing hubs. It is proudly motor country and the provincial government, with private sector partners, is working to maintain the region’s leading position in the shift to new energy vehicles (NEVs).
It’s a crucial time to leverage the transition to the decarbonisation of transportation and create jobs and secure economic opportunities for the region. Environments need to adapt, not just on the production side, but also on the drivers’ side, where new infrastructure is required to make driving a battery electric vehicle (BEV) on the province’s urban and rural roads a convenient option.
To this end, the Automotive Industry Development Centre Eastern Cape (AIDC-EC), backed by the provincial government is working alongside service providers to add 13 public universal charging stations to the region’s charging network.
The AIDC-EC is also supporting the rollout of off-grid charging stations spearheaded by Zero Carbon Charge (Charge). Charge is a Cape Town-based start-up with a planned national network of 120 off-grid EV charging stations and 120 electric truck charging stations which will be powered by solar energy. The company hosted a sod-turning in October last year at Wagon Wheel Pies on the N6 approximately 19km north of East London, where it will be developing an off-grid charging station.
Thirteen AIDC-EC sites
As part of its commitment to fostering a strategic location and business-friendly environment, the AIDC-EC said it launched the rollout of its own 13 sites to support the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and promote beneficiation in the region.
On 21 January, the AIDC-EC launched its fifth public universal EV charging station, located at Queens Casino and Hotel in Komani (Queenstown). This follows the launch of its first station at Dan’s Country Lodge in Libode, and sites at the Virgin Active in Quigney, East London; Tsitsikhaya Lodge in Tsitsikamma; ad at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in October.
The public universal charging station at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was a welcome site for the Naamsa-led expedition driving five BEVs from Johannesburg to Cape Town between 10 and 13 October 2024. Covering 2,200 km in four days, their ‘consumer’ experience is documented in a short ‘warts and all’ video accessible on Naamsa’s YouTube channel. The group encountered a few charging glitches along the way, but proved that driving an EV over long distances in South Africa is not impossible.
The AIDC-EC has not published the locations of the remaining eight sites and says selecting the strategic locations is a key aspect of the project. It says it is selecting locations that will ensure widespread accessibility across the province and reduce range anxiety. The AIDC-EC is working with national service provider, Rubicon and has chosen to locate the charging stations where other facilities already exist.
The initiative aims to keep pace with the anticipated surge in NEV adoption and expand supporting charging infrastructure.
Ready for the boom
The shift to NEVs in South Africa has been slow, with the motor industry calling for both supply-side and demand-side policies to stimulate growth.
Speaking at the State of the Motor Industry (SOMI event hosted at Kyalami earlier this month, industry expert, Greg Cress said globally more than one in five cars sold is an EV and that in South Africa, the turning point for NEVs was in 2022 with the Corolla Cross (first full retail year) which catapulted hybrid sales to 4,000 units. In 2024 that figure is approaching 12,500 units. Looking ahead, Cress predicted that without BEV incentivisation, the inflection point at which mass BEV adoption becomes a reality (when BEVs get to around 5% of the passenger car parc) will only occur around 2032. With incentivisation, that inflection point kicks in far sooner – around 2029.
At the same SOMI event, Toyota South Africa Motors president and CEO, Andrew Kirby said the government’s newly announced policy regarding incentivisation for the production of BEVs is a step in the right direction, but it is not yet enough to secure the future of the automotive production base in South Africa. This problem is exacerbated by the slow creep of de-industrialisation as well as a concomitant drop in local content which is now below the 40% mark for locally produced vehicles, he noted.
Off-grid charging
With decarbonisation as the ultimate goal, charging EVs with renewable energy is preferable. Off-grid vehicle and truck charging company, Charge, says current data reveals that an EV charged from South Africa’s predominantly coal-powered grid indirectly emits 5.8 tonnes of CO2 annually, compared to 4.4 tonnes for petrol cars and 8.6 tonnes for diesel vehicles. This means that, currently, it is actually less environmentally friendly to drive an electric vehicle charged from the grid than it is to drive a petrol vehicle.
Earlier this month, the company said it welcomes the signing of the 150% tax incentive for electric and hydrogen-powered vehicle manufacturers into law but said the government still needs to address the barriers that hinder EV adoption and promote the development of charging infrastructure.
Charge called for more support for a sustainable, reliable, and green charging network. “More support is needed to minimise the significant regulatory barriers hindering the expansion of critical charging networks,” the company said.
Charge says that in some provinces, such as the Western Cape, rural development guidelines contradict the development of solar-powered charging for EVs, despite the call for carbon reduction and environmental protection. “This presents challenges to renewable energy and sustainable transport projects. In addition, Sanral’s administrative hurdles continue to delay the rollout of essential EV infrastructure,” Charge says.
Charge says it plans to build a network of 29 sites in the Eastern Cape, 18 of which will be dedicated to electric passenger and light commercial vehicles, while 11 will be for off-grid electric truck charging stations.
The company says it will be investing a total of R11.4 billion in the rollout of electric vehicle charging stations in the Eastern Cape. This forms part of its broader project of building a national network of 120 off-grid electric passenger and light commercial vehicle charging stations and 120 electric truck charging stations.
In addition to the environmental benefits, the development of the 29 charging sites will create a positive economic impact in local communities. This includes the creation of over 3,260 employment opportunities. Landowners on whose land the charging stations will be built will earn 5% of the revenue generated from electric passenger vehicles and trucks charging at these facilities, while 1% of the total revenue will be reinvested in local socio-economic development initiatives.
Charge opened its first operational off-grid charging station in Wolmaransstad, North West on 28 November 2024.
