Econet subsidiary installs electric vehicle charging stations across Zimbabwe

Valentine Muhamba Avatar
Charging Station Electric Vehicle Zimbabwe

Econet Subsidiary, Distributed Power Africa (DPA) is a company we have talked about here a number of times. The last we heard of them they had entered into an agreement with Mettle Solar to power Africa Data Centres’ EADC. Well, this time they have come back with something even bigger as the company is now installing electric vehicle charging stations across Zimbabwe.

“Electric vehicles have zero emissions and we are excited to add this innovation to our solar offering. We have grown our commercial and industrial energy deployments, and bundling our solar solutions with EV charging infrastructure will aid the transition to cleaner energy.”

Divyajeet Mahajan, DPA Zimbabwe’s Chief Executive Officer

This development came about after the government of Zimbabwe made a commitment to promote the use of EVs. With conventional combustion engine vehicles and other human activity contributing to climate change, EVs are one of many options that will help us better manage carbon emissions.

Zimbabwe has lagged behind on critical infrastructure like EV charging stations making EVs an unappetising prospect for the nation’s motorists. For those who already had an EV, range anxiety was a real thing as the nearest charging station may have been at their place of employment or home.

“Our charging stations will ease a major concern for consumers looking to move to EVs, by removing the fear of running out of battery on their journey,”

Divyajeet Mahajan, DPA Zimbabwe’s Chief Executive Officer

Are there any charging stations already in place?

DPA has three charging stations already installed in Msasa (Harare) and there are 17 others that are being installed at various sites across the country.

To add on to this, DPA is now offering EV charging stations as a part of its corporate and industrial solar installations. This will surely encourage businesses to replace some of the vehicles in their fleet with BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) or PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles).

Charge times

The charging stations will come in both DC and AC configurations. According to DPA Zimbabwe CEO Divyajeet Mahajan, the DC fast-charging stations have the capacity to charge the Vaya Nissan Leaf (24kWh battery) to 80% in under 30 mins.

DPA is also going to be putting these fast-charging stations at 150km intervals across Zimbabwe’s highways. This means you can complete a trip from Harare to Bulawayo in a day (in your EV) as soon as the charging stations are up and running.

On the whole EVs have a number of upsides in comparison to internal combustion engine vehicles. This is something we reported on last year when we looked into which EVs are best suited for Zimbabwe:

Electric vehicles & how their adoption in Zimbabwe could be accelerated

This is a massive deal for EV adoption in Zimbabwe. The more charging stations we see, the greater the pull that EVs will have in the country.

Cover Image Credit: Afrik21

16 comments

  1. Uknown

    So you mean the petroleum industry gurus will just let that happen kkkkkkkkkk maybe they will shift their focus faster because thr change is imminent and inevitable.

    1. Rp

      Its whats needed…competition. and the faster they act the better it is for everyone

  2. perfect

    Econet is taking all the businesses what about others let us not allow monopoly they will soon be opening up grocery shops.

    1. Anesu Kafesu

      There are certain industries that only large companies should enter. Building charging stations in a country where less than 0.001% of the vehicles are EVs is one such industry. Only big established businesses have the capital to build such a thing and sustain losses until EVs become mainstream. Anyhow you can always start a business if you want to.

    2. Anonymous

      Did econet create any barrier to entry into the market?Econet is just a competetive and innovative company.No one is stopping other companies to be innovative hence econet has done nothing wrong.

    3. Guest

      Surely u are not serious with your answer business opportunities are always there its upto you to grab them if you have the resources kana usinawo woyotsvaka basa ikoko kana unequalification inodiwa which i doubt😜

    4. Anonymous

      Econet is good at launching new products but cannot maintain them.

  3. R.G.M.

    There’s no monopoly, you can as well go and build kamusika kako kema tomatoes pa dhuze nema charging stations avo, since it’s the only type of business you have the capacity to operate

  4. Pongoe

    Zimbabwe is already behind so we only need to support positive opinions even if they are bad ones which need correction .It is progress which is needed and may some of us gain ideas and have our own plans too. Not just an a point of critique.

  5. R.P

    If econet has the capacity to innovate and implement an idea should they wait for you to think of the same idea before they can implement theirs? Econet is good at identifying problems and providing solutions to them. If u have your own idea you are free to pitch. I dont see monopoly here. Its business and diversity. If u cant beat them, join them.

  6. Blessed

    Its way too early for that in Zim, Econet should place focus on other areas, i appreciate the fact that they have shown initiative but then considering that we still import dumped vehicles it means we still have over 20 years to see a shift and thats only if the economy sees a turn around, electric vehicles are still very expensive

  7. M C

    It is a good venture in terms of diversity.So it’s up to individuals choosing which type of a vehicle to grab. EVs have got their advantages and disadvantages as well. There is no emission but a high use of battery therefore the need for a proper disposal of them and time taken to charge while one is waiting. The monopoly issue ndiyo stamina ye mari it is unavoidable kkkkk

  8. James Goto

    Where are the other charging points across zimbabwe?

    1. Bibilinga Makwande

      It is now 2024. No chargers have been installed to date.

  9. Anonymous

    This article is more than a year old. Has any progress been made to install EV Chargers since it was published? if so, where are the chargers installed to date?

    1. Bibilinga Makwande

      It is now 2024. No chargers have been installed to date.

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