Amid the green energy transition sparking increased global demand for new-energy vehicles (NEVs), naamsa | the Automotive Business Council is embarking on the deployment of public charging infrastructure nationally.

During a Nedbank Fuel Retail seminar on June 20, naamsa chief projects officer Shivani Singh noted that 120 sites comprising a mix of alternating and direct current chargers would be deployed across main national routes, connecting cities and entertainment nodes.

She explained that a ‘coverage-based’ approach would serve well to mitigate accessibility concerns.

While using renewable energy exclusively would be preferred, Singh noted that practicality dictates initial deployment of grid-tied solutions supported by small-scale renewable use.

This will decrease the cost of infrastructure build and increase the speed of installation.

“We’re seeing it initially as still having a grid-tied solution supported by an element of renewable power,” she said.

Singh noted that some locations had been tentatively identified against the current installed network whereby the preference was to work in existing commercial sites – brownfield – where alternate revenue streams already existed.

“The logistics of getting these sites approved . . . can take years . . . petrol stations are the logical opportunity.”

She explained that strategic partnerships with fuel companies and fuel stations represented an opportunity for collaboration in the context of changing downstream strategies plus their proximity to main national routes.

She argued that opportunities for revenue generation other than the sale of electricity would need to be explored.

The project has been endorsed by all naamsa manufacturing, retailing and medium and heavy commercial vehicle original-equipment manufacturers and will be supported by them during deployment.

Singh also noted that key government stakeholders and agencies had endorsed the project and would provide collaborative support relating to aspects such as infrastructure development, road safety and financing.

“We've managed to onboard all government stakeholders that would play a role here,” said Singh, noting that a development finance institution was working with naamsa to fund an initial rollout of these public charging infrastructure points.

Moreover, in line with the South African Automotive Masterplan 2035, naamsa aims to achieve 60% local content in car manufacturing, including achieving 25% value addition in the supply chain from black-owned businesses.

With this in mind, Singh noted that the company deploying the solution was a consortium of an existing chief product officer and black industrialists – black- and women-owned.

Singh also pointed out that local charging infrastructurewas currently fully imported and installed.

Hence, in the context of the masterplan and support for localisation initiatives, a phased industrialisation approach was being explored.

Singh thus argued that there was an opportunity to localise components for charging infrastructure, arguing that it could bolster business cases.

“To date, we've been able to localise the aluminium pillars in the charger, the cables and the harnessing, as well as some of the plugs. We could get to a point where the charging infrastructure we install has actually got locally assembled components inside it,” she said.