South Africa: BMW to build solar EV charging stations

BMW is looking for corporate partners to start a pilot programme of solar-powered parking bays to recharge electric vehicles in South Africa.

Tim Abbott, Managing Director at BMW SA, explained that the motoring giant hoped to have the project running by the end of this year, reported Business Day.

Together with Nissan, BMW is the only car manufacturer that sells EVs in South Africa.

With this programme, Abbott said, the company hopes to boost the use of EVs in the African country. He also explained that the national government had a big part to play in the success of the EV industry, encouraging it to follow the steps of other countries where tax incentives and infrastructure had been handed.

South Africa is still a long way away from its aim of EV usage, as Nissan and BMW combined sold less than 500 electric cars during 2015, while 500,000 vehicles were sold in total.