More electric car charging stations planned for South Africa

by | Sep 7, 2017 | Transportation | 0 comments

Electric cars might have caught on across the world, but one of the biggest problems facing potential South Africa buyers are the lack of public charging stations.

That should change in the near future as BMW and Nissan recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which the two companies will work together to plan and build a national grid of EV and PHEV vehicle charging stations.

“Our introduction of the 100% electric Nissan LEAF in 2013 was part of Nissan’s global drive to advance sustainable mobility and to grow the market for zero-emission vehicles. With this in mind we believe our partnership with BMW SA is a sound investment to create a future-proof automobile industry,” said Mike Whitfield, Managing Director of Nissan South Africa, in a media statement.

In terms of the technicalities, the two companies will build direct current (DC) fast-charging stations that will be able to charge BMW and Nissan vehicles – Combined Charging System 2 (CCS2) used by BMW, and Charge de Move systems (CHAdeMO) used by Nissan.

But if you have a different model car, there will be no need to fret, as smaller alternating current (AC) type chargers are also planned. These Type 2 socket stations will be able to charge any EV and PHEV vehicle.

“A key imperative of our strategy is to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is rolled out to help increase consumer confidence in the viability of electric vehicles. We therefore believe that in order for the introduction and expansion of electric vehicles as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to be successful in this market, we need to work together,” said Tim Abbott, Managing Director of BMW South Africa, in a media statement.

Read full story: htxt.co.za

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