Ice-Rink 12-Port EVSE Hub — TCO & Use Case (ZA, R9)

Verdict & decision table

Base-case verdict: NO-GO. Under the computed cost shape (Ruraflex-style energy at R 2.45/kWh, demand charge R 145/kVA/month, 18% utilisation, kWh resale at R 5.20), the 5-year / 10% NPV is -2,990,735.58 ZAR with no discounted or simple payback within the horizon. Per-km economics are also worse than the incumbent ICE baseline (EV TCO 0.9580 ZAR/km vs ICE 0.4160 ZAR/km — a 0.5420 ZAR/km deficit). Hardware: the AC EVSE being costed is a Sungrow AC007E-01 7 kW AC charger (publicly marketed AC EVSE product family, https://www.sungrowpower.com/en); the OCPP load-management gateway is the Sungrow Smart EV-Charger Controller (OCPP 1.6J, firmware revision ≥ v2.1.7). Equipment families and datasheets confirmed at RFQ.

The earlier draft's worked example assumed internal fleet savings (converting rink vehicles from diesel to EV) of R 178,600/year as the "benefit" line. The COMPUTED TABLE overrides that with a TCO model where benefits are negative because the marginal cost per km for the EV fleet exceeds the ICE baseline at the stated utilisation and tariff. All figures below are the computed numbers — none of the R 358,414 NPV / 2.36-year payback figures from the draft survive the audit and they should not be quoted.

1 · Use case profile

An indoor ice rink in a ZA metro sits open roughly 14 hours on weekdays and 18 on weekends, with two on-ice sessions and a public-skate window that drives 60–120 cars parked outside. Rink-side parking is flat, lit and within 25 m of the LV room. Most dwell times are 60–180 minutes — enough to add 40–120 km of range at 7 kW AC.

The site is a plausible fit for a shared AC hub, not DC fast charging: the dwell pattern is long-and-shallow, the operator wants to avoid an HV transformer upgrade, and an OCPP back-end lets the rink spread load across the kettle, chiller and Zamboni feeds. Twelve 7 kW Type‑2 sockets is a workable cluster size: large enough to feel like a destination amenity, small enough to be capped inside a 100–120 kVA intake on existing LV infrastructure.

2 · Computed TCO summary (verbatim)

3 · TCO inputs (named, allow-listed sources only)

Inputs below are bounded model assumptions, not sourced facts, unless they carry an inline citation. Where a number is shown without a citation, it is a stated assumption bound of the scenario model.

4 · Sensitivity (computed row only)

The draft's "Low demand / low use" sensitivity row did not reconcile to the same formulas as §3 of the audit, so it has been removed from this page. The scenario model returns a single base-case row — see §2. Re-running variants requires re-running the scenario model; no alternative sensitivity rows are published on this page.

5 · Verdict by scenario (summary)

NO-GO Base case (R9): NPV R -2,990,735.58 over 5 y at 10% discount, no payback. EV TCO/km exceeds ICE TCO/km by R 0.5420. The site cannot support 12 ports on this cost/revenue shape under the scenario model.

CONDITIONAL Higher utilisation (sensitivity, not shown): Would need a re-run of the scenario model; this page does not publish an unverified alternative row.

CONDITIONAL Captive fleet pivot: If the operator converts captive rink vehicles (coaching fleet, Zamboni-side support) to the same charge hub and can capture >40% utilisation with predictable dwell, the per-km economics may flip. Re-run the scenario model with revised asset.ev_fleet inputs before re-issuing.

6 · Mini certification & HS classification (status flagged)

7 · RFQ anchor & downloadable spec

For a sized quote on a 12-port, 7 kW Type-2 OCPP-ready shared AC hub with a 60 kW site cap and ZA grid-code compliance, request the R9 Ice-Rink 12-Port EVSE Hub bundle via the live TradVolt RFQ form. A downloadable BOM/spec sheet for the Sungrow AC007E-01 + Sungrow Smart EV-Charger Controller bundle is available at:

Request RFQ — Ice-Rink 12-Port EVSE Hub (ZA, R9)

Download BOM/spec — R9 Ice-Rink 12-Port EVSE Hub (PDF)

8 · Citations & sources

Status flags carried forward: all IEC / NRS / OCPP / IP claims on this page are NOT YET CERTIFIED — PENDING until a certificate number + issuing body is produced. All ZA duty/VAT rate cells are PENDING until confirmed against the SARS customs tariff lookup.