Electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure company evCrowdRoute has partnered with GridCars to provide EV owners with greater access to charging stations across SA.
EvCrowdRoute, a new entrant in the EV charging industry, recently installed its first EV chargers at Heilbron and Clarens, in the Free State, with the vision of rolling out a charging point every month.
With an estimated 1 000 EVs and hybrid EVs on South African roads currently, the privately owned company says it expects this number to reach 1 500 by the end of this year. It is working on expanding the number of charging facilities across SA, having recently signed a partnership agreement with charging station infrastructure and EV management systems firm GridCars.
Through its partnership with Jaguar Land Rover SA, GridCars has established a national EV charging highway, known as the “Jaguar Powerway”, which consists of 22 charging stations along the N3 between Gauteng and Durban, and the N1 between Gauteng and Cape Town.
The new partnership allows evCrowdRoute clients to use their EV charging accounts at any of the GridCars and Jaguar-branded charging stations nationwide. Likewise, EV owners can also use their existing GridCars ActiveCharge cards at evCrowdRoute charge points.
Shaun Maidment, CEO of evCrowdRoute, says the company's philosophy is to cover destinations on smaller routes over the next 10 years.
"We are aspiring to put a charger in every town of SA and eliminate range anxiety. We want to help EV owners rediscover the most scenic routes this country has to offer.
“Charging station locations are indicated on charging infrastructure mapping Web site PlugShare, in addition to the GridCars maps, which provide a handy map of all existing chargers and their latest status information.”
After completing a scenic return trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town in his BMW i3 earlier this year, Maidment is confident South Africans can make the leap and replace their internal combustion engines with an electric motor.
"There were a few occasions within the rural parts of the Eastern Cape, where I had to ask people to charge on their properties. Everyone was very helpful and excited to assist me," he notes.
evCrowdRoute offers its members various packages ranging from R1 000 to a lifetime membership of R50 000, which afford them discounts on all evCrowdRoute charging stations and for networks not operated by evCrowdRoute.
Limited EV options, affordability and lack of education about the EV industry are among challenges hindering EV uptake in SA, according to Maidment.
“It is predicted that within the next couple of years, selling diesel and petrol vehicles in the second-hand market will become challenging, with consumers either making the EV transition or waiting until the right EV arrives. Through education and government frameworks in place, we can expect to see subsidies, rebates and transformation of taxation on EVs.”
According to PlugShare, the local public charging network currently consists of 190 charging stations, based along the major routes across SA.
In November, Airports Company South Africa collaborated with BMW SA to introduce EV charging stations at OR Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport and King Shaka International Airport.
In October, eight new EV public charging stations were installed at four sites across the country through a partnership between the Department of Transport and the Gauteng Provincial Government, in collaboration with digital solutions provider Generation.e and electrical products manufacturer ACDC Dynamics.
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