A recent electric vehicle (EV) road trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town, on a journey through five provinces, shows it’s possible to drive fully electric cars throughout South Africa.
However, the four-day trip proved there are still stumbling blocks associated with multiple vehicles needing to use a charging station simultaneously.
The journey, covering a total of 2 225km, headed to South African Auto Week 2024, in Cape Town. It comprised a fleet of five EVs, including the BMW iX, BYD Seal, Mercedes-Benz EQS, Volkswagen ID.4 and Volvo XC40 – all models that are in available in the local market.
The road trip served as commemoration of 100 years of the automotive industry in SA, while also highlighting that the sector is steadily transforming towards new energy vehicles.
Making the trek from Johannesburg to Cape Town were Hiten Parmar, executive director of The Electric Mission, and National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA executives, Mikel Mabasa and Tshetlhe Litheko. They were joined by seven other team members from SA’s corporate and media industries.
The trip highlighted the challenges that could face SA, if the proliferation of EVs on local roads takes place faster than the expansion of charging stations across the country, according to Parmar.
“While South Africa has a good footprint of charge point locations across the country, arriving at charge points with multiple cars simultaneously was an expected challenge,” comments Parmar.
“There is a selection of fast (DC) charge points and standard (AC) charge points available along the entire route, but these are single units at the majority of locations. Ideally, the country’s national charging network needs a diversity of suppliers and operators to bolster the reliability of the network, which will alleviate issues around range anxiety and charger availability.”
Despite the various charge point challenges, all the electric cars completed the 2 225km trip over the four days, he adds.
According to the 2023 Annual Car Industry report, compiled by automotive marketplace AutoTrader, inadequate charging infrastructure for EVs and ‘range anxiety’ were cited among the disadvantages of owning an EV in SA.
According to charging infrastructure mapping website PlugShare, SA’s public charging network currently consists of 378 charging stations.
Audi South Africa, GridCars, BMW, Toyota and Rubicon are among the companies that have invested heavily in establishing charging infrastructure on national highways.
Slow transformation
As SA recognises October as National Transport Month, smart mobility has been a key highlight this month.
SA’s automobile industry plays a critical role in economic growth and supports thousands of jobs, and the country is also endowed with mineral resources that position it to become a key and strategic player in EV value chains.
However, industry players have bemoaned the slow pace of digital transformation in the sector, urging government to introduce policy that would create a conducive environment for the transition towards EV adoption and local production.
Gauteng transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela recently discussed Gauteng’s strategy on new energy vehicles (NEV) during an interview with ITWeb, pointing out SA is a step closer to introducing the long-awaited NEV policy.
The New Energy Vehicles White Paper, which was approved by Cabinet last year, details a framework upon which a comprehensive and long-term automotive industry transformation strategy would be premised, with a focus on the creation of a high-yielding business environment.
“There is commitment from our national legislators to finalise the paper quickly so that we are able to roll out many of the plans we have set, to transform the automotive industry,” she noted.
The country’s automotive industry has for years made several calls to urge government to hasten the introduction of the policy.
It warned that the lack of a regulatory framework could result in SA facing the threat of losing significant investment from local multinational players, such as BMW, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz SA – which have announced local plans for EV production and sales.
“As South Africa hosts October as National Transport Month, the National Green Transport Strategy outlines strategic pillars to promote hybrid and electric vehicles towards 2050, in order to combat the 91.2% of road transport related emissions across the transport sector,” concludes Parmar.
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