- BYD will make a significant contribution to South Africa’s public charging infrastructure, with the firm confirming plans to roll-out its megawatt chargers on a national scale, with hundreds of individual charging stations set to be deployed.
- As originally reported by TechCentral, BYD Executive Stella Li confirmed the plans on a trip to South Africa, and comes as the manufacturer continues to sell EVs into new emerging EV markets.
- BYD only recently started selling its EV models in South Africa, most recently including the Dolphin Surf, starting at the equivalent of under US $20,000.
BYD will deploy hundreds of its ‘Flash’ chargers across South Africa
The chargers to be rolled out will be the same already being deployed across China in large numbers, capable of charging speeds exceeding 1,000kW. In the case of BYD’s Super e-Platform EVs, which can support the ultra-high charging speeds, this allows for 400 kilometres of range to be added in as little as five minutes – putting EVs equal to ICE when it comes to ‘filling up’ time. BYD has already confirmed its plans to roll these chargers out across Europe, the first of which we’re expecting to see before next summer.
The first BYD charging sites will be located at BYD dealership locations across the country, but further down the line, expansion will also include charging stations along major travel routes and ultra-urban locations. BYD’s Stella Li said that by next year, she expects South Africa to have between 200 and 300 Flash charging stations, with on-site solar power being used to counter any grid constraint barriers. There are currently no BYD EVs sold in South Africa which can support megawatt charging speeds, but the rollout of these chargers suggests that faster-charging BYD EVs (which are already on the market in China) will eventually make their way to South Africa.
Right now, EV sales in South Africa may be low – just 1,257 BEVs were sold in 2024, from a total of 512,712 vehicles. However, EV sales are forecast to rise exponentially over the next few years, and it’s clear that BYD wants a slice of that pie with this significant public charging infrastructure plan.
