Holiday Fun! Taking A 32kWh MINI Cooper SE On A 962km Road Trip From Johannesburg To Afriski Resort In Lesotho And Back

South Africa’s charging network is growing all the time. EV drivers can now comfortably do road trips along most of the country’s major highways. Drivers can now also do road tips to resorts in neighbouring countries such as Lesotho. To showcase this, Ryan Jarret recently took a trip from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho. Afriski is the only ski resort in Southern Africa. Ryan’s electric car is a 2022 MINI Cooper SE with a 32kWh gross, 28kWh usable energy battery pack. It has a mileage of 66,000 km (41,000 miles). The round trip from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Afriski in Lesotho was 962 km (598 miles) and the average energy consumption for his trip was 15.9 kWh/100 km.

Here is a summary of the charging stops:

1. At the 60kW DC charging station at Engen 1-Stop

• Vaal West (Villiers)
• 22.10 kWh recharged, up to 95% SoC
• Cost of R162.50 ($9.20 USD)
• Total charge time — 36 min

2. At the 50kW DC charging station at Engen 1-Stop

• Bergview (Harrismith)
• 29.41 kWh recharged, up to 97% SoC
• Cost of R216.25 ($12.24 USD)
• Total charge time — 47 min

3. At the 22kW AC charging station at Protea Hotel Clarens.

• Clarens
• 20.99 kWh recharged
• Cost of R 123.48 ($6.99 USD)
• Total charge time — 2 hours and 6 min

4. At the 50kW DC fast charging station at Dihlabeng Mall.

• Bethlehem
• 19.10 kWh recharged, up to 99% SoC
• Cost of R 133.67 ($7.57 USD)
• Total charge time — 47 min

5. At the 60kW DC fast charging station at Engen 1-Stop

• Vaal West (Villiers)
• 21.66 kWh recharged, up to 90% SoC
• Cost of R159.26 ($9.02 USD)
• Total charge time — 31 min

There was also a charge session through the night and a bit more for 13–14 hours in the cold at 2.4 kW from a standard wall socket at the ski resort.

Here is a cool video from Ryan documenting his trip:

I love these types of trips that document how easy it is to take popular road trips that are about 1,000 km round trip in modern electric vehicles. By modern standards, the MINI is a short-range EV, and therefore this trip shows that with basically any other EV available to buy in South Africa at the moment, which will have a range of at least double the range of the 2022 MINI, these road trips will be even better.

In the first 6 months of this year, 749 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were sold in South Africa. A total of 931 BEVs were sold in the whole of 2023, meaning that the total number of BEVs sold in the first six months of 2024 was 80% of the total for the whole of the previous year. This is very encouraging, as sales of BEVs have been quite slow in South Africa over the past 5 years or so. The slow sales of BEVs can be attributed to several reasons, including:

1. A limited number of models available in South Africa compared to similar markets. The range of BEVs offered in South Africa is improving, which gives us hope for the future.
2. High import duties and taxes applicable to electric vehicles in South Africa. Petrol and diesel vehicles imported from the EU into South Africa have a customs duty of 18%, while for electric vehicles it is 25%. There are also the Ad Valorem Customs Excise Duties and VAT.

There is talk of introducing some form of incentives for EVs in South Africa. We hope this happens soon! As more EV models become available in South Africa, as well as a growing number of more affordable EVs coming onto the market, it is very important to raise awareness around all issues relating to EVs in South Africa to catalyse adoption. These kinds of trips will go a long away in raising awareness.

Images courtesy of Ryan Jarret