GridCars rolls 120 kW dual CCS2 chargers into its national network — useful for trips, not a home-bill fix

Primary: GridCars press release dated Johannesburg, 24 July 2026 (published on gridcars.net 3 Aug 2026). Secondary: Engineering News / TechCentral coverage of the same programme and a reported ~R40 million refresh budget.

What GridCars said

GridCars is refreshing established public DC sites with a new-generation 120 kW dual-connector CCS2 platform and adding sites along strategic corridors. CEO Winstone Jordaan framed the work as a long-term network-operator refresh: some chargers being replaced have been in service for more than a decade and were designed around older ~500 V vehicle architecture.

Engineering News (14 Aug 2026) reported the programme as a roughly R40 million national upgrade with refresh work at more than 40 sites — treat the rand figure as secondary reporting unless GridCars restates it in a primary note.

Why 150–1 000 V matters to a buyer

Newer passenger EVs and many light commercial platforms sit outside the voltage window of early SA public chargers. A dual CCS2 120 kW unit that can serve two cars (or one at higher share) improves corridor reliability without pretending every session is 150 kW+. Always read the live app for available kW on the day you travel.

GridCars also says the broader hardware roadmap includes higher-power passenger and commercial chargers, battery-supported sites and megawatt-class platforms — plans, not a completion notice.

Tariff reality check for households

Public DC remains the expensive kilometre. Rubicon’s August 2025 e-mobility tariff note put GridCars eMSP DC around R7.35/kWh and AC around R5.88/kWh on shared networks (host and OEM deals can differ). Home charging on metro residential energy (~R3.30–R4.70/kWh) plus solar surplus still wins for commuting. Corridor upgrades help road trips; they do not replace a CoC’d wallbox.

For comparison, SAEV’s Richmond factory site has been reported near R3.49/kWh DC — a solar-plus-battery outlier, not a national GridCars rate (Richmond story). CHARGE’s off-grid N3 hubs target up to 720 kW per site with large solar and storage (CHARGE N3).

What fleets should ask

• Which named sites are on the 120 kW dual CCS2 platform today versus “planned”?
• Bay geometry for vans and trucks — not only passenger cars.
• Wholesale vs retail tariff path if you run your own eMSP.
• Uptime and 24-hour support SLAs on depot vs highway sites.

Caveats

Phased rollout means temporary outages; GridCars says interruptions will be communicated on its channels. Connector counts and live kW belong in the app, not in a press release. Secondary “~75% of SA public network” footprint claims attributed to GridCars in mid-2026 reporting should be treated as company-sourced market share, not an audited census.

Home and workplace still carry the savings

Even a perfect 120 kW public session is a travel tool. naamsa-linked 2026 BEV growth (3 217 units Jan–Sep) means more drivers will meet busy plazas on long weekends. The households that keep running costs low are the ones with a CoC’d wallbox on metro energy or solar surplus, plus a workplace Type 2 where possible. Public DC is the safety net — workplace charging, home charger buying.

If you manage a small fleet, ask GridCars which depot-adjacent sites already carry the dual CCS2 platform and whether bay geometry fits your vans now, not “when trucks arrive.” Pair highway DC with overnight AC at the depot; depot AC on a commercial tariff still usually beats retail public DC for predictable kilometres.

How we will track this

Solar News 24 will treat site-level completion notices and app screenshots as stronger evidence than programme announcements. Until then, label 120 kW dual CCS2 as rolling out, keep Richmond’s ~R3.49/kWh and GridCars-class ~R7.35/kWh as separate tariff stories, and keep Chargify destination pins under the PR-caveat rule.

Drivers’ checklist for the next long weekend

1. Update the GridCars / ChargePocket app and payment method before you leave.
2. Filter for CCS2 and note which pins advertise 120 kW-class hardware — then believe the live kW when you plug in.
3. Carry a Type 2 cable for hotel/mall AC fallback (City Lodge-style destination sites included).
4. Leave home near full if your first 200 km lacks redundant pins.
5. Keep home charging as the default for the return-to-work week.

Bottom line for households: celebrate better corridor hardware, price your kilometres at home, and treat every press-release kW figure as a maximum under ideal sharing conditions — not a promise at 17:00 on a long weekend.

Related

• Public EV networks compared
• CCS2 / Type 2 connectors
• EV charging pillar
• Cost to charge an EV

What the 120 kW label means on a real trip

A site marketed at 120 kW is a ceiling shared across guns and limited by your car’s acceptance curve. Heat, state of charge and simultaneous sessions all cut the average kW. Plan arrival SoC and a backup pin 40–60 km along the corridor rather than betting the whole day on one bay. Compare live app tariffs — GridCars DC often sits near ~R7.35/kWh in recent desk reads, above Eskom’s published mall R5.88 and well above home AC.

Household takeaway: corridor DC is travel insurance. Weekly kilometres still belong on a CoC’d wallbox, ideally daytime solar self-use — public vs home · EV charging guide.

Installer and fleet notes

Fleets should log session kWh against route sheets for a month before rewriting fuel policies around “the network is 120 kW now.” Light commercial EVs with lower accept rates will not magically match brochure minutes. Homes adding a second EV still size the DB and load management for simultaneous overnight AC, not for public DC averages — load management.