Motoring journalist Justus Visagie and co-driver Michael MacIntyre drove from Cape Town to Johannesburg in a Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ sedan in 19 hours and 6 seconds. This is a new record for an electric car trip between the two famous South African cities.
Using GridCars public chargers, the pair recharged the Mercedes-Benz EQS five times in the following towns: Laingsburg, Beaufort West, Colesberg, Bloemfontein, and Ventersburg. They reached Sandton with a range of 171 km remaining after their last charge. “The car gave us a range of approximately 500 km on a full charge , but we rarely charged the battery above 80%,” Visagie says. “From 80 to 100%, the rate of charge often slows down, which could have cost us time,” he explains.
In December 2022 I had a roadtrip from Centurion to Bloemfontein in a non electric vehicle. Nowhere did I see any charging points available for EV's or PHEV's? In Centurion as well. No charging points available for the general public.