This flagship charging station is a major milestone for Zero Carbon Charge and a landmark moment for South Africa’s green transition.
It is a truism at this point that the development and sales of EVs are fast outpacing the establishment of charging stations. And given that range anxiety is one of the central worries for current and future EV owners, this lack is a serious obstacle for the EV revolution.
Zero Carbon Charge’s revolutionary vision is to not only meet this need for charging stations, but to do it in an entirely renewable way, and on an unprecedented scale. The Wolmaransstad charging station is not just a charging station. It is the beginning of the realisation of this pioneering project!
So where exactly is this Wolmaransstad, you ask? You’d be forgiven for not knowing. It is a small town in the North West Province, and that our first charging station is in a rural area is wonderfully fitting! Zero Carbon Charge’s plan is to roll out over 100 charging stations all across South Africa, not just a handful in urban metropolitan areas. Our vision is for drivers to be able to go coast to coast safe in the knowledge that there will be a charging station every 150km along their route, including in the more remote parts of the country like Wolmaransstad.
The charging station will be on the N12 on a farm, JJC Boerdery, which was started by Jan Holiday in 1998 and consists of a cattle feedlot, maize, and Lucerne.
Brenton B. Abrahams, whose company MPCPS is contracted to lead the execution and management of the development on behalf of JJC Boerdery, noticed a Zero Carbon Charge post on LinkedIn and immediately felt that the philosophy of Zero Carbon Charge is closely aligned with that of JJC Boerdery. They are committed to the pillars of ESG, and place a lot of focus on their environmental impact, gas emissions, water usage, and waste production—this makes them the perfect partner for the very first step in this exciting venture.
Partnership with Canna-B-Africa
Further proof of this is their plan, in partnership with Canna-B-Africa (also owned by Brenton Abrahams), to cultivate 50ha of hemp on the farm. Hemp, for those who don’t know, is a plant with both industrial applications and remarkable environmental benefits. Abrahams explains that hemp,
“holds a significant promise for carbon sequestration. When grown, hemp naturally captures and stores CO2 from the atmosphere in its biomass, making it an effective carbon sink”.
How wonderful to begin our journey in collaboration with a group that has such an innovative and future-oriented mindset.
Part of the charging station project includes the building of a farmstall on the property so that you can have a snack and a coffee while you wait for your car to charge. Not that you’ll have to wait long. Our charging stations are ultra fast so you can be back on the road in about half an hour.
The farmstall will be run independently by the owner of the farm and will provide a great opportunity for job creation for the wider community (Zero Carbon Charge will provide initial support to get the stall going, helping set up the social media channels and promoting it on our website).
This initiative as a whole will truly put Wolmaransstad on the map.
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