TotalEnergies Uganda opens its first public EV charging station

From the newsletter

Green Hub, an organisation empowering women in e-mobility, has partnered with TotalEnergies Marketing Uganda to launch TotalEnergies' first public EV charging station at its Wampewo Service Station in Kampala. The company plans to open three more by the end of 2024 as it aims to address consumer charging concerns.

• This launch is part of TotalEnergies' commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and providing cleaner energy solutions to its customers.

• Globally, the company has built over 55,000 charging stations across the world, but very few are in Africa.

More details

• The charging stations are mainly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. 

• They also have a growing presence in China and are starting to roll out infrastructure in Africa. In Kenya, they have over 14 charging stations and only one in Ghana.

• Global fuel companies like Shell, BP and Eni are recognising the shift towards electric mobility and are strategically positioning themselves in the EV charging market. 

• They are leveraging their existing infrastructure, such as service stations, to install charging points. This also allows them to diversify their revenue streams and remain adaptive to changing business space.

• While dedicated charging infrastructure companies like  Rubicon in South Africa and Drivelectric in Kenya have been leading the charge, fuel companies are catching up. They have the financial muscle to scale quickly with demand.

• Fuel companies are investing heavily in expanding their charging networks, often through partnerships with e-mobility companies. 

• In Kenya, local fuel companies like Lexo Energy and Petrocity have partnered with Spiro to establish charging and battery-swapping stations. 

• These companies' extensive retail networks give them a competitive advantage in establishing convenient charging locations.

• TotalEnergies Uganda has over 200 outlets that it can utilise to set up charging stations. It is also working to support EV adoption and has so far contributed $5,000 to boost the acquisition of electric bikes by female riders.

• Uganda's EV charging network is very small, with only one competitor, Altec, an EV charging infrastructure company that was founded in 2022 and has only two charging stations.

Our take

• Building charging stations is expensive. Smaller charging companies often struggle to get the money they need. Big fuel companies like TotalEnergies already have tons of money and resources and can easily set up charging infrastructure.

• Dedicated charging infrastructure companies are betting everything on EVs catching on quickly. If people aren't buying EVs fast enough, these companies might not make enough money to survive.

• Partnering can help both succeed. Fuel companies have the money and space while charging infrastructure companies have the technology and expertise to run charging networks.