South Africa is seeing increasing demand for electric vehicle-as-a service, as more firms in the transportation industry look to lower their carbon emissions through electric fleets.
This is according to Ndia Magadagela, CEO of Pretoria-based EV-as-a-service company Everlectric, talking to ITWeb about the company’s business model and trends shaping SA’s EV industry.
EV-as-a-service is a month-to-month, use-based vehicle subscription and an alternative to the traditional purchase of fleets. Everlectric offers full-maintenance leasing of commercial battery electric vehicles and EVs, vans and larger vehicles to local companies in logistics and across other sectors.
According to Magadagela, providing commercial clients with an EV, charging infrastructure, vehicle maintenance, insurance and a real-time monitoring solution via a cloud-based platform for a flat monthly subscription fee eliminates barriers to entry, by encouraging businesses to embrace cleaner, more cost-effective fleet solutions.
“We started off with 40 vehicles in 2022 and we’ve since grown to almost 200. There is an increase in demand for electric vehicle-as-a-service in South Africa.
“We have realised the world is moving towards a trend of a shared asset economy, where one person will own an asset and then lease it to other people,” explains Magadagela.
“We see this trend in the property market like Airbnb, in e-hailing, etc. A client gets a fully-maintained solution and they don't have to worry about taking care of anything; they only have to focus on the subscription.
“Commercial clients are increasingly going green. All industries need to be thinking about their decarbonisation journey. Businesses will go green if it’s cost-efficient for them.”
New laws being introduced globally are also contributing to growth. SA’s government and consumers are increasingly demanding a range of lower or no-emission vehicles, amid the urgent goal of decarbonising the world's economy in the wake of climate change, she states.
EVs also limit reliance on volatile fuel prices, and reduce the total cost of ownership compared to fossil fuel cars − creating cost savings for businesses, she adds.
“The cost-efficiency of using an EV is something that we've proven over and over again. Our clients are saving between 10% and 20% in costs for fuel if they are doing enough kilometres. They are also saving on carbon.
“We have a van used by one of our clients [with which] they are saving one ton of carbon per month.These are companies that are doing a lot of kilometres in their fleet but are committed to decreasing their carbon emissions.”
Everlectric was established in 2020 and a proof of concept was started in 2022. In 2023, the company went commercial, starting with 40 vehicles. It has since seen more than 100% growth year-on-year in demand for its vehicles.
However, a lot still has to be done by government, to encourage mass adoption of EVs in SA, asserts Magadagela.
“Government has made progress with the EV White Paper. But legislation has to clarify a lot of goals for the industry. We need support for local manufacturing and incentives for the buyers. We need investments in charging infrastructure.
“We also need more consumer awareness. People think EVs are still out of reach for most consumers, but we are seeing OEMs introducing more affordable vehicles into the local market.”
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