Audi South Africa Expands Charging Network With Addition Of 150kW DC Fast Chargers In Key National Locations

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

South Africa’s EV market is still quite small, but it is now starting to show signs of progress. Looking at the most recent full-year data, the market shares for plug-in hybrid, BEV, and plug-less hybrids were 0.06%, 0.17%, and 1.2% respectively. These electrified vehicles had a combined market share of 1.5% of the South African new vehicle sales market. Looking at Q1 2024 and comparing it with Q1 2023, sales of plug-in hybrids seem to show signs of recovery. 138 plug-in hybrids were sold in Q1 2024, compared with just 25 in Q1 2023.

One of the key enablers for stimulating adoption of plug-in electric vehicles is the availability of public charging infrastructure. This is why Audi, in collaboration with partners such as Rubicon, is contributing to the growth of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in South Africa.

Audi has been investing into public infrastructure for a while now and has now announced its latest investment. This is Audi’s third investment round in charging infrastructure in South Africa. Audi South Africa says the company is again playing a major role in continuing to prepare South Africa for a future of widescale electric mobility. Following extensive investments in 2022 and 2023. — during which time Audi and its strategic partners GridCars and Rubicon added more than 120 DC and AC public charging points to the national grid — the brand has once again partnered with Rubicon to install six 150 kW DC fast public chargers in convenient locations nationwide. This marks the third wave of Audi South Africa’s charging network investment and brings the total spend to more than R50 million.

The six new chargers, each offering two charging points that can supply charges concurrently, are positioned in key locations along South Africa’s three main road arteries — the N1, N2, and N3 highways. These chargers will serve both commuters living nearby as well as those motorists venturing further afield on their holidays and work trips. And users won’t have to wonder how to occupy their time while their vehicles are plugged in — a 150kW fast charger can top up an average Audi e-tron battery from 5% to 80% in 30 minutes or less.

Here are the locations of the new 150kW fast chargers:

“This third wave of investment into the public charging network in South Africa highlights once again our commitment to electric mobility,” says Sascha Sauer, head of Audi South Africa. “We believe EVs represent the future of our brand, both globally as well as locally, and we’re therefore playing our part in making electric mobility a convenient, straightforward reality for more and more South Africans.”

According to Rubicon’s Energy and E-mobility Director, Greg Blandford, “Rubicon is proud to have collaborated with Audi South Africa on the installation of six cutting-edge Wallbox Supernova 150kW DC chargers. These chargers feature pioneering European technology and notably, stand among the first of their kind to be installed worldwide. This marks a major achievement for both Rubicon and Audi SA.”

It’s great to see that South Africa’s electric vehicle charging network is growing and that more of the faster DC chargers (150kW and above) are now being deployed in South Africa. This will allow drivers to have a more seamless driving experience around South Africa. Below is a video of one such drive, even with an EV with a relatively small battery, all enabled by some of these chargers from Audi and partners.

[embedded content]