Multinational heavy equipment manufacturer SANY has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zero Carbon Logistics (ZCL) to serve as the official technology provider for the planned roll-out of an off-grid electric truck charging network on the N3 highway.

ZCL said the partnership with the Chinese and global company demonstrated SANY’s eagerness to enter the South African market and support the development of six renewable energy charging stations – a first for the country.

The stations are designed specifically for electric trucks that use the N3 route between Johannesburg and Durban, which has over 8 576 trucks per day.

The six charging stations will form part of the 120-truck charging network that ZCL will develop on major freight routes across South Africa over the next few years.

“SANY’s technical expertise and superior design capabilities will ensure these facilities offer ultra-fast, seamlessly integrated green charging technology that will be able to charge trucks within 20 minutes with chargers, or battery swapping in under five minutes,” says Joubert Roux, co-founder of ZCL.

The process to permit the six sites has started due to the experience of permitting processes being long and arduous, and after the next 24 months, they will be operational.

In addition to collaborating on the technology for ZCL’s N3 electric truck highway, the MoU also envisages both parties working together on the introduction and supply of overseas-manufactured electric trucks and battery technology in South Africa.

“If government wants to realise its goal of achieving net-zero transport by 2050, it needs to introduce real incentives to encourage South Africans to choose electric vehicles or electric trucks over internal combustion models,” Roux says.

“This must include opening the market to cheaper imported models by implementing a six-year tax holiday on the import of electric vehicles (EVs). This is the only way we will achieve real penetration of EVs in the country, which will also create a conducive environment for local EV and battery manufacturing.”

However, it is important to recognise that a mass transition to electric trucks could potentially create major strain on the country’s predominantly coal-fired national grid. If one views the N3 highway between Durban and Johannesburg alone, the electricity required to charge the 8576 trucks using this route daily would add 2.3 billion kWh per year in electricity demand to the grid. It is therefore critical that the country starts to invest in charging infrastructure to power these electric trucks, ZCL said in its statement.

The company’s own research shows that an electric truck charged by the Eskom network could emit 37,5% more CO2 emissions per kilometre compared to an equivalent diesel-powered truck. The development of a green charging network is also crucial to prevent the real risk of an increase in CO2 emissions created by a transition to electric trucks.

 “Zero Carbon Logistics has already entered agreements with landowners for 79 of the 120 off-grid electric truck charging sites that it plans to build on long-haul routes across the country, “ Roux said.

“We have also started the permitting process for the first six sites on the N3 with the aim of these charging stations being built by November 2027. However, in order to speed up the development of national EV charging infrastructure which will support the country’s EV transition and help promote renewable energy, national government must create a regulatory framework that includes less stringent land use and environmental application processes to establish solar-powered charging stations.”