Alviva Holdings Ltd announced this morning that Solareff (Pty) Ltd has acquired a 75% stake in GridCars – a Pretoria based developer of electric vehicle charge point software management systems and supplier of charge points.
“As a leading Solar PV specialist, we are excited to be expanding into green mobility. Our investment will enable GridCars to reach critical mass and scalability required to lead the industry and roll out a network of EV charging stations across the country which will be the enabler of a carbon free transport system for South Africa” says Solareff MD Jaco Botha.
Already well-known in the market, GridCars plays a leading role in building this industry through engagement with vehicle manufacturers and various other stakeholders, as well as being a founding member of the Electric Vehicle Industry Association. They have developed a real-time interactive eMobility software system which allows users to find available charge points and to manage the rates and billing for energy consumed.
“Our clients often request that the charge stations are solar powered so we want to be working with people who really understand the technology” says GridCars founder and director Winstone Jordaan, “the industry is seeing a merger of ICT, transport and energy – GridCars understand these three sectors and how they need to come together so that we can take it forward in the right way.
Internationally there is increasing interest from vehicle manufactures in developing electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Both Nissan and BMW have already released EVs to the South African market with more manufactures announcing plans to do so in 2018. There are currently over 100 charge points already installed across South Africa, and GridCars aims to dramatically increase this number in the near future to power South Africa’s Green mobility revolution.
