Electric vehicle (EV) charging group GridCars says it will deploy charging infrastructure for large trucks at three sites along major South African highways in the next 12 months.

The grid-tied charging sites will offer fast charging (650 kW DC connectors) at a price that will prove highly competitive, says CEO Winstone Jordaan.

Charging time will differ depending on the truck brand, but should take 45 minutes on average.

The establishment of the sites will be funded by a mix of own funding, debt and investor funding.

Executive consultant Shaun Maidment says GridCars is targeting a price point of between R4.50/kWh and R5.50/kWh.

To achieve this, the company will use a variety of methods such as buying electricity during Eskom’s off-peak periods, wheeling, and securing supply from independent power producers, all tied to battery storage to ensure the price can be maintained throughout the day.

“Commercial fleet operators have told us that one of the main reasons they are not transitioning to electric trucks is the fact that the retail charging price – at R7.35/kWh – is too high,” says Maidment.

“It’s still much more expensive to buy an electric truck compared with a diesel truck, which means that they don’t believe they’ll reach break-even point quickly enough at such a high charging price.

“We believe that the output price should be between R4.50 and R5.50 to make economic sense, and we think we can get there.”

Jordaan notes that both fleet operators and truck manufacturers have confirmed that there is indeed significant pent-up demand for electric trucks in South Africa – “if the price is right”.

This demand has seen an especially strong growth curve in recent months as fuel prices skyrocketed on the back of the Iran-conflict.

Installations of GridCars’ home EV chargers have escalated by 180% over the last three months, says Jordaan.

Despite the end of the Iran conflict appearing in sight, Maidment believes the move to EVs has reached a tipping point, especially as the local market continues to see the roll-out of cheaper EVs.

Jordaan says there are roughly 7 000 home chargers in South Africa.

GridCars has seen its business expand along with the local EV market, with the first-mover startup now scaling up to significant size.

The one-man business in 2009 installed its first EV charger at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research campus in Pretoria.

The company has since grown to 30 employees. It has also been forced to seek bigger premises and moved into its new head office in Muldersdrift earlier this year, scaling up from the previous 200 m2 workshop to an 800 m2 space.

“We now have a 24-hour call centre providing work to seven to nine people,” says Jordaan.

GridCars offers smart, connected home-charging solutions for EVs, while it has also installed, and currently manages, around 75% of South Africa’s public charging network, which consists of roughly 700 chargers.

Some of these have been “in the ground” for ten years and are now in the process of being refreshed.

The company also offers charging solutions to commercial operations such as bus and truck fleet operators, both in-depot and on selected route points.

“We also do consulting work,” says Jordaan.

“We are product agnostic,” he adds. “We’ll offer clients whatever we believe to be the best solution.”

GridCars earlier this year welcomed a new majority investor following Solareff’s departure late last year.

The renewable-energy group sold its shareholding in GridCars, with Energex stepping in to secure a 75% shareholding.

Energex is in the same family of companies as ABC Solar, which has a strategic alliance with Huawei Fusion Solar, a subsidiary of global tech giant Huawei.