This follows automotive business council, naamsa, completing the adjudication of a tender for the installation of the new charging stations’ infrastructure.

The naamsa CEO, Mikel Mabasa, says the council has recommended a single company to be awarded the tender but is unable to name the successful tenderer until the award has been approved by the naamsa members who are funding the project.

Mabasa added that naamsa has also recommended that the successful tenderer be required to bring in at least three black-owned local firms to assist with the roll-out of the project.

“These local black-owned companies will be able to understudy the work of one big company that has been awarded the tender for skills transfer, skills development and of course for black economic empowerment purposes,” he says.

Mabasa says nine bids from both local and international companies were received for the tender, which will be worth “hundreds of millions of rand”.

However, Mabasa says the tender value has not yet been finalised because negotiations still had to take place with the successful bidder.

Mabasa expects the tender to be announced and officially awarded to the successful tenderer by the end of this year.

He confirmed that there are three phases to the project, which will be demand driven, resulting in additional charging stations installed when NEV sales rates increase.

The first phase of the project involves the installation of charging infrastructure on the national road network to fill the gaps in the existing system. A total of 305 charging stations had been installed on major road routes in the country by the end of last year.

GridCars is the biggest owner, operator and supplier of NEV charging infrastructure in the country.

The existing charging station infrastructure was installed by original equipment manufacturers (OEMS) and importers and distributors who have launched NEV products into the domestic market and need to provide charging facilities for their customers who buy NEVs.

The naamsa members decided to pool their financial resources to fund the additional charging infrastructure that will be rolled out in terms of the naamsa tender.

The other two phases of the project involve the installation of charging infrastructure in commercial facilities, such as shopping malls and airports, and the installation of charging infrastructure by smaller businesses and households.

NEV sales increased by 47.1% to 3 146 units in the first half of this year from the 2 139 units sold in the corresponding period last year after increasing by 421.7% to 4 674 units in 2022 off a low base in 2021.