Electric vehicle charging station map goes live

Drivers of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles can now easily plan their journeys using the newly-introduced live map to locate available public charging stations across SA.

The live map, announced today, is part of an initiative by Jaguar South Africa and public EV charging stations installer, GridCars, to display the entire network of Jaguar Powerway and GridCars-supported public charging stations online to map the public charging stations, while also indicating it’s online or offline status.

The map, accessed via Jaguar SA’s Web site, also shows the exact location and the time and date of the station’s last successful use, as well as a tally of that particular station’s total charge sessions to date.

“While the primary charging habit for the majority of EV drivers will be at home where it’s most convenient and cost-effective, we know that the future of electric mobility ultimately relies on a public charging network,” explains Brian Hastie, network development director of Jaguar Land Rover South Africa.

“As the rollout of public charging stations intensifies and the dots between existing locations are connected, it’s vital that EV drivers are able to view the status of chargers remotely. This live map makes that possible.”

Almost a thousand EVs have been sold in SA to date. In March, Jaguar Land Rover became the third vehicle company to introduce an EV range in SA, with the Jaguar I-Pace. The first were Nissan Leaf, introduced in 2013, and BMW i3, introduced in 2015.

According to charging infrastructure mapping Web site PlugShare, the local public charging network currently consists of 137 charging stations based along the major routes across SA.

In October, eight new EV public charging stations were installed at four sites across the country through a partnership between the Department of Transport and the Gauteng Provincial Government, in collaboration with digital solutions provider Generation.e and electrical products manufacturer ACDC Dynamics.

Last month, Airports Company South Africa collaborated with BMW SA to introduce EV charging stations at OR Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport and King Shaka International Airport.

Jaguar South Africa began the roll-out of its Powerway network of public charging stations late in 2018. The Powerway includes public charging stations along frequently travelled holiday routes along the N1, N2 and N3, and at various points of convenience, such as shopping centres, in the country’s major hubs including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Bloemfontein.

The R30-million Jaguar Powerway investment, combined with the network of GridCars-supported public chargers, makes day-to-day travel as well as longer day trips and even very long journeys possible for owners of EVs, according to Jaguar.