South Africa’s electric vehicle (EV) market is seeing slow but steady growth compared to the rest of the globe, reaching a total of 1 559 units at the beginning of 2022.
This is according to the annual International Energy Agency (IEA) Global Electric Vehicle Outlook report for 2022, compiled in collaboration with South African annual contributor uYilo eMobility Programme, an initiative of the Technology Innovation Agency.
According to the report, sales of the global EV (battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles) market doubled in early 2022 from the previous year, to a new record of 6.6 million.
This number indicates a new record of rising sales to nearly 10% of global car sales. Roads across the globe now have more than 16.5 million electric cars, tripling from 2018, it says.
In SA, however, the local market has seen much slower growth, with only 227 new sales.
According to a previous report released in May 2021, EVs reached 1 332 units on local roads by the end of February 2021 – up from 1 119 at the end of 2019.
“In South Africa, the electric vehicles currently marketed are exclusively from premium brands,” says Hiten Parmar, director of the uYilo eMobility Programme.
“Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volvo all have full-electric models available, while the cheapest is from MINI. We still require a wider segment of models to drive further growth in the local market. This can only be realised within the mandate of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition under the import duty framework, and local production incentives for manufacturing.”
According to the “Forecast Analysis: Electric Vehicle Shipments, Worldwide” report compiled by research firm Gartner,over 6 000 EVs are forecast to be shipped to Sub-Saharan Africa this year, up from 4 796 units in 2021.
China in the lead
The International Energy Agency report points out that China is the global EV sales leader, with Europe and the US making up the top three markets. More electric cars were sold in China last year than globally in 2020, while in Europe electric car sales continued their year-on-year sales increase, by more than 85%.
Two- and three-wheelers have high EV market share, especially in Asia, where China again dominates, registering 9.5 million new electric two- and three-wheelers out of the 10 million registrations.
Vietnam and India are the other largest markets for these vehicles.
“By contrast, EV sales are still lagging in other emerging and developing economies, where the few models that are available remain unaffordable for mass-market consumers. In Brazil, India and Indonesia, fewer than 0.5% of car sales are electric. However, EV sales doubled in a number of regions in 2021 – including in India – which could pave the way for quicker market uptake by 2030 if supporting investments and policies are in place,” notes the report.
Nearly fully charged
To foster growth in EV adoption, automotive manufacturers will have to address other lingering factors, such as lowering the price of EVs and batteries, recycling EV batteries, offering a wider selection of vehicle models with more extensive driving range and improving charging infrastructure, according to IEA.
There was a nearly 40% expansion in the number of public chargers last year, reaching 1.8 million − meaning there are now about 10 EVs per public charge point, it says.
SA is the market leader for Africa, having installed over 300 public chargers to date through various service providers, with the latest expansion projects including ultra-fast (150kW) chargers.
“There are five recommendations to government outlined in the recent Global EV Outlook 2022 report from the IEA,” adds Parmar.
“Firstly, to maintain and adapt support for electric vehicles, to kick-start the heavy-duty EV market, to promote the adoption of EVs in emerging and developing economies, expand EV infrastructure and smart-grids. Finally, to ensure secure, resilient and sustainable EV supply chains.”
The effect electric vehicles will have on the road transport sector, in reducing emissions and contributing to countries achieving their net-zero goals by 2050, will require EV market share to grow by 60% globally.
This will require that all elements of the electric vehicle supply chain be significantly expanded, especially the battery supply chain; however, more supply investment is needed to meet demand, he points out.
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