Bolt and Dongfeng team up on South Africa EV rollout – report

Estonian ride-hailing institution Bolt Technology has teamed up with Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor to present an electrical conveyance (EV) fleet successful South Africa, reported Bloomberg.

The fleet volition beryllium managed by Indian electrical mobility institution Yugo Rides and volition initially statesman operations successful Cape Town.

Customers volition beryllium capable to entree 2 Dongfeng models, including the Box hatchback and the higher-end 007.

According to the report, Bolt presently holds much than fractional of South Africa’s ride-hailing marketplace aft investing astir $180m to grow its operations successful the country.

South Africa is among Bolt’s 10 largest markets globally and remains a cardinal absorption country for the company, the study added.

Simo Kalajdzic, Bolt’s section operations manager, said the institution was adopting a gradual rollout strategy due to the fact that of charging infrastructure constraints.

“We are taking a phased attack to launching this fleet arsenic we see the existent infrastructure limitations, including the request for capable charging stations”, helium told the publication.

Kalajdzic besides said higher substance costs linked to the Iran warfare were expanding the entreaty of EVs, arsenic little charging expenses could amended operator earnings.

Founded successful Tallinn and backed by Sequoia Capital, Bolt was valued astatine €7.4bn ($8.61bn) aft raising €628m successful a 2022 backing circular that included investments from Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Management & Research.

The institution operates successful much than 50 countries and crossed 850 cities worldwide.

The South African EV rollout forms portion of Bolt’s wider planetary enlargement efforts, which see a caller determination into Taiwan, a Canadian motorboat nether the Hopp marque earlier this year, and the instauration of scooters successful Washington.

Kalajdzic said the institution could inactive see an archetypal nationalist offering (IPO) successful future, noting Bolt “will see options, erstwhile marketplace conditions are right”.

"Bolt and Dongfeng squad up connected South Africa EV rollout – report" was primitively created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.

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