Big announcement about South Africa’s first off-grid electric car charging station

South African e-mobility company Charge (previously Zero Carbon Charge) will open South Africa’s first fully off-grid electric vehicle (EV) charging station on Thursday, 28 November 2024.

The launch of the station — located next to the N12 between Klerksdorp and Wolmaransstad in the North West — will happen almost exactly a year after it began construction.

“This station marks the beginning of the national network of 120 EV charging stations that Charge will be rolling out across the country and is a major milestone towards the creation of a sustainable transport sector in South Africa,” the company said in an invitation to the launch.

The event will be attended by the Premier of North West, Lazarus Mokgos, and the mayor of Maqassi Hills Local Municipality, Mzwandile Feliti, among other senior government officials.

It will also include a demonstration of how Charge’s “state-of-the-art, ultra-fast charging technology” will charge EVs visiting the station.

In addition to running without any grid electricity, the station will be the most powerful in the country, boasting a 480kW system from Shanghai Magic Power.

Featuring six fast DC charging points and two slower AC chargers, it will intelligently adjust output depending on the number of cars plugged in and the charge points they are using at a given time.

Three of the six DC chargers will be liquid-cooled and able to support up to a maximum 500-amp output.

The actual achievable kW charging rate will depend on the connected EV’s battery voltage architecture and maximum rated speeds.

In theory, a modern EV with an 800V pack should be able to charge at up to 400kW, while older models with 400V packs peak at 200kW.

However, the fastest commercially available passenger EVs can currently only charge up to 350kW.

The fastest-charging EV sold in South Africa is the Porsche Taycan, which has a peak DC charging speed of 320kW.

At the fastest DC charging points on Charge’s system, the Taycan will be able to refill its battery from 10% to 80% in less than 18 minutes. That 70% top-up is sufficient for over 300km range.

Massive solar and battery installation

While EV and plug-in hybrid owners wait for their cars to charge, they can buy food and drinks at an on-site farm stall, take a bathroom break, and stretch their legs.

Powering the station and farm stall is a huge 280kWp solar array consisting of 480 bifacial solar panels, the size of roughly 88 entry-level rooftop solar systems.

The first station will also have a 546kWh liquid-cooled battery that can be fully recharged in less than two hours at peak solar.

It will have sufficient capacity to fully charge about eight or nine mid-sized EVs overnight or during periods without solar production.

Once the battery is depleted, the facility will tap into a generator that uses hydrotreated vegetable oil with up to 90% lower carbon and 84% less particulate matter emissions.

In addition to solar power, Charge is also considering tapping into small-scale hydroelectric power at sites located near rivers.

Below are images of Charge’s first off-grid EV charging station under construction next to the N12.

240 off-grid stations in the pipeline — with tens of billions in investment

Over the longer term, Charge has an ambitious plan to cover South Africa’s long-distance routes with 240 off-grid EV charging stations.

Half of these will be for passenger cars, while the other half will be for electrified trucks.

To achieve this, Charge has partnered with land and farm stall owners to share the revenues from its charging stations.

It has also collaborated closely with provincial and municipal authorities to promote e-mobility and ensure the installations benefit nearby communities.

The company committed R11.4 billion in investment in 29 charging stations in the Eastern Cape in October 2024.

The first of the 18 passenger EV stations is planned to enter construction in the first quarter of 2025 at the Wagon Wheels farm stall on the N6. It will be one of five stations rolling out simultaneously.

More recently, Charge also committed a R9.6-billion investment in its off-grid charging stations in KwaZulu-Natal, including 17 stations for passenger EVs.

The company has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Free State provincial governments on the rollout of 15 passenger car and seven EV truck charging stations.