Day 3 of the EC EVRT Connects Land, Legacy and Infrastructure

The Automotive Industry Development Centre Eastern Cape (AIDC-EC) put to the test the recently installed electric vehicle infrastructure across the province - embarking on the first ever Eastern Cape Electric Vehicle Road Trip (EC EVRT) since installing 14 public owned electric vehicle charging stations in the province.

On Day 3 of the EC EVRT, the province's electric momentum continued to unfold - not in a single line, but in three powerful threads stitched across the Karoo, Inland, and Coastal corridors. Each route, though distinct in geography, told a unified story: that infrastructure, when purposefully placed, becomes part of the cultural and ecological fabric of the land it inhabits.

The Karoo exploration group ventured deeper into a terrain where untamed wilderness meets cultural preservation, a fitting metaphor for the balance between innovation and identity that defines the campaign. The day began at Mountain Zebra National Park, near Nxuba (formerly Cradock) - a sanctuary long committed to conserving the once-endangered Cape Mountain zebra. Nxuba itself has become a key node in this clean-energy ecosystem, now hosting an AIDC-EC 150kW charger at Tams Spar.

Further along, Middelburg, shaped by a deep history of wool industry, wartime history, and historical worship sites, now forms part of the Eastern Cape’s EV network, with a 150kW fast charger strategically located at the Nguni Country Lodge.

Meanwhile, the Inland team began their journey at the iconic Gariep Dam, South Africa’s largest, which has long been a cornerstone of irrigation, energy, and sustainable water supply. Their route traced the path of the mighty Orange River, South Africa’s longest, a lifeline that continues to shape livelihoods across the region.

In Maletswai (formerly Aliwal North), the Limakatso Boutique Lodge is conveniently and strategically situated next to the Hot Springs, where the AIDC-EC’s EV Charger serves as a beacon of equitable energy rollout - bridging rural South Africa into the national EV network, one charge at a time.

Simultaneously, the Coastal Route pressed on into the unspoilt expanse of the Wild Coast, where biodiversity, heritage, and clean transport converge a realm where biodiversity, cultural heritage and clean energy unite in striking harmony.

Their expedition culminated at Silaka Nature Reserve near Port St Johns, Silaka offers sweeping panoramas, indigenous forest trails and sightings of rare fauna and flora - a living classroom of ecological resilience. Here, the AIDC-EC has installed one of its 150kW EV chargers, proving that infrastructure and ecological preservation are not opposing forces, but co-drivers of progress.

Throughout the different routes but same journeys, the message is unmistakable: the future is not only electric - it is inclusive, rooted in the ideology of a just-transition, and already in motion.

Three routes. One mission. A province energised by innovation

Enabling Seamless eMobility in the Eastern Cape.