Innovators in the electronic vehicle (EV) market believe South Africa has taken a bold step towards decarbonising public transport with the launch of “South Africa’s first electric minibus taxi model, eKamva”.
Launched at the Smarter Mobility Africa Summit in Midrand, eKamva is the product of a consortium led by transport technology platform, GoMetro, with an integrated new EV business model and charging infrastructure product called flx EV.
The eKamva project kicked off in 2023 with a partnership – comprising GoMetro, Powerfleet (formerly MiX Telematics), HSW, ACDC Dynamics and various entities within Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Engineering – investigating and advancing the feasibility of an electric minibus taxi in South African conditions. The project team conducted extensive testing in and around Stellenbosch on existing taxi routes using traditional minibus taxis.
How it works
The 15-seater eKamva has a range of more than 200 km between charges, fast-charges within 75 minutes via a 60 kW DC charger and slow-charges overnight for 10 hours. It delivers an estimated 40-70% saving in running costs compared to traditional vehicles, depending on the fuel price (inland versus coastal) and distance of the taxi route.
The flx EV website will soon allow minibus taxi owners and operators to apply to be added to its waiting list while it develops charging hubs with partners across South Africa. The first hubs are expected in Century City and Stellenbosch within the next 12 months.
The flx EV app will let taxi owners manage their fleets, see each vehicle’s status and prepay for recharging. It will also direct drivers to the closest charging hub. “Flx EV will be using GoMetro’s extensive fleet orchestration platform, Bridge, to manage data from the vehicles in service, charger networks, power purchasing, payment systems, battery management and predictive maintenance – all in one place,” said GoMetro CEO Justin Coetzee.
Future electrification of the transport sector in South Africa raises significant technical and regulatory challenges related to integrating electric transport into our existing grid infrastructure, says Bernard Bekker, Associate Director of Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies. “These challenges are, in many ways, unique to South Africa where minibus taxis will potentially represent a much larger proportion of the future electrical fleet. The availability of a real-life electric minibus taxi to inform our research activities will provide valuable inputs into addressing these challenges.”
The eKamva is currently undergoing homologation (being certified compliant with local safety and vehicle standards) by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications.
