The moment we left South Africa, we said goodbye to fast charging stations for our electric car. The first one we can find again is 2.800 kilometers north in Kenya. Therefore, we had to think of other ways to charge our electric car.
Mozambique with an electric car
As it was still quite cloudy every day, we decided to spend all our nights at a campsite or at the homes of local people who invited us to stay over. This way we could charge on the grid from the end of the afternoon until the beginning of the next day. At the homes, we only used regular wall outlets, with one phase. On average this meant +/- 18 hours of charging with 2kW, equal to more than +50% of our battery (roughly 200 kilometers of driving).
This resulted in driving 1.700 km in 12 days, which is equal to an average of 140km per day including rest days. On our way down via the west coast of Africa, we drove an average of 85km a day, so quite a difference. It was a very comfortable way to travel, as while charging we could do whatever we wanted.
Malawi with an electric car
In Malawi, we drove 880 km in 6 days. One time we charged our expedition car at a 20MW solar plant, which was quite a unique experience. All other times we charged at campsites or at the homes of local people again.
Finding locations to charge our electric car
The campsites were easy to select as we used the iOverlander app for this where we could see if electricity was provided. Another thing we had to make sure, is how the roads were towards the campsites, as close to the beaches it can be very sandy in Mozambique and loose sand is something our car can not handle that well.
At the homes of local people, we took the time to explain to them how the car and the charging works, as to them it often was quite new. Afterward, they often invited us to join them for dinner, which resulted in us getting to know the culture and history of Mozambique and Malawi a lot better as well.
Thank you for the warm welcome, Mozambique & Malawi!
