Understanding EV Charging Tariffs In South Africa: Here’s What You’ll Pay To Power Your Electric Vehicle

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A lot of people worldwide still do not have sufficient knowledge around electric vehicles and the benefits for switching to electric, which is why all forms of awareness programs are essential. Information around electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and EV charging tariffs is not yet as readily available and as accessible as for the equivalent fossil fuel ecosystem. This is understandable, as the fossil fuel ecosystem has been evolving and has been promoted for over a century.

Take a look at the price of petrol and diesel, for example. In most cases, this information is displayed clearly at petrol stations themselves (and petrol stations are literally everywhere), but also in national newspapers, radio and TV news updates, and government energy department publications and monthly updates. So for the average driver, they can get access to all this information in realtime all the time from all these sources. Everyone will know the exact price of petroil per liter. How about EV drivers in your town? Better yet, how about a non-EV driver that wants to have a quick view of how much it costs to charge just as they would readily find out the price of a liter, or in North America, a gallon of petrol. 

This is why we need to do more to get information out there and for this information to be as easily accessible as possible. In this article, we will look at EV charging tariffs in South Africa, along with the drivers that contribute to the final cost when you rock up to a charging station. This is just one step in the quest to share information and help raise awareness around the electric mobility ecosystem. In this article, we will focus on an example from South Africa. The data and insights in this article have been compiled with the generous inputs of Hilton Musk, and Jacky Smith from Rubicon.

Charging infrastructure is growing nicely now in South Africa and one can now comfortably drive across it along the country’s major highways, as shown by Ryan Jarrett on several of his 3,000 km road trips.  Some of the most frequently asked questions he gets are:

1. How much does it cost to charge?
2. Why do charging prices vary between public charging stations?
3. How long does it take to charge?
4. Are there queues at charging stations?
5. How reliable is the charging network in terms of uptime?

In this article we will look into answering the first and second questions.

We asked Hilton Musk, Rubicon’s Head of E-mobility, and this is what he said.  “There are several types of tariff structures that can be used to charge customers for public EV charging, including flat rates, time-of-use-tariffs and dynamic pricing. Currently in South Africa, we only use flat rate tariffs.”

As of August 2025, standard public EV charging tariffs in South Africa are as follows:

• R7.00 per kWh for Rubicon eMSP customers on both Rubicon and GridCars DC charging stations.
• R7.35 per kWh for GridCars eMSP customers on both GridCars and Rubicon DC charging stations.
• R5.88 per kWh for both Rubicon and GridCars eMSP customers on AC charging stations.

These rates apply nationally and exclude any OEM-specific tariffs that may apply at branded charging stations. In South Africa, charge point operators set up their own independent charging networks, but often collaborate as well with vehicle original equipment manufacturers to build co-branded charging stations. Hilton adds, “It’s important to note that these tariffs are typically set through agreements between the charge point operator (CPO) and the e-mobility service provider (eMSP), which means they can vary in some cases. For example, at AIDC-EC charging stations, Rubicon eMSP customers pay R7.00 per kWh while GridCars eMSP customers pay R8.24 per kWh.”

This highlights a key difference for EV drivers: Rubicon eMSP customers currently benefit from lower DC charging rates than GridCars eMSP customers on both Rubicon and GridCars charging networks.

What affects public EV charging costs?

Two main entities influence what you pay at a public EV charging station in South Africa:

1. Charge Point Operator (CPO): The CPO operates and manages the physical charging infrastructure.
2. E-mobility Service Provider (EMSP): The EMSP handles the customer-facing side of the charger, such as payments via cards or digital wallets.

The CPO offers a wholesale tariff to the EMSP. This amount includes the cost of electricity from a utility provider (like Eskom), and infrastructure as well as standard operational costs. The EMSP then adds a markup to cover their services. The final retail tariff (what you pay) is the EMSP’s price, plus VAT. In some cases, the CPO and EMSP are the same provider — for example, Rubicon plays both roles at many of its stations. In other scenarios, Rubicon may act as the CPO, with another company (like GridCars) acting as the EMSP. In this case, Rubicon sets the wholesale tariff, and GridCars adds their margin — usually 15% — on top of that.

“Think of it like the fibre internet model,” says Musk. “The fibre network providers — like Openserve or Vumatel — sell bandwidth to internet service providers such as Afrihost or MWeb, who then add their margin before offering it to customers. Public EV charging works in much the same way.”

Why is DC charging more expensive than AC charging?

There are a few key reasons why it costs more to use a DC fast charger. Higher infrastructure costs are the major driver. The upfront installation and equipment costs for DC chargers are significantly higher than for AC chargers. Therefore, to recover these costs and remain financially viable, CPOs apply a higher tariff for DC charging. Speed and convenience of DC charging is also another factor.  DC chargers deliver much faster charging, which is often worth a premium for EV drivers.

Rubicon adds that understanding EV charging tariffs helps EV drivers charge smarter. Public EV charging in South Africa is still evolving, but understanding how tariffs work can help you make informed decisions about where to charge.

“Once you understand the roles of CPOs and EMSPs, and how their pricing works, it becomes much clearer why charging costs vary — and what you’re actually paying for,” says Musk. “It’s not just about electricity; it’s about infrastructure, access, and convenience.”

As EV adoption grows, one hopes information such as charging tariffs and other associated information will be more publicly available and displayed in a similar manner to what the average driver is accustomed to.

Images courtesy of Rubicon