Both automakers will collaborate to advance electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) adoption in South Africa. Nissan South Africa (NSA) and BMW Group (BMW SA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly plan and build a national grid of EV and PHEV vehicle charging stations for use by both Nissan and BMW vehicles. The agreement is effective immediately and will run until 2017.
“Our introduction of the 100% electric Nissan Leaf in 2013 was part of Nissan’s global drive to advance sustainable mobility and to grow the market for zero-emission vehicles. With this in mind we believe our partnership with BMW SA is a sound investment to build a future-proof automobile industry,” said Mike Whitfield, Managing Director of Nissan South Africa.
“We have successfully launched the BMW i3 and i8. A key imperative of our strategy is to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is rolled out to help increase consumer confidence in the viability of electric vehicles. We therefore believe that in order for the introduction and expansion of electric vehicles as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to be successful in this market, we need to work together. Our partnership with Nissan is the first step towards that,” commented Tim Abbott, Managing Director of BMW South Africa.
The agreement will see BMW SA and NSA roll out direct current (DC) fast-charging stations that are equipped with both the Combined Charging System 2 (CCS2) used by BMW’s electric and plug-in hybrid models and the Charge de Move system (CHAdeMO) plug standards used by Nissan’s 100% electric Leaf. The national grid of charging stations will also make use of smaller alternating current (AC) type vehicle chargers in certain regions, which will be equipped with ‘Type 2’ sockets that allow the connection of all EVs and PHEVs.
Source: Nissan/BMW
