Over the past 18 months only 458 electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in SA, but Mercedes-Benz is confident this market will soon pick up.
The German luxury vehicle manufacturer has so far only sold 20 such cars in the country, but Mark Raine, co-CEO & executive director of Mercedes-Benz SA, says they believe that post 2026 EVs will account for half of all their vehicles sold in the country.
SA can be “a fast follower” because the prerequisites for EV rollout are more advanced in SA than in many other markets, says Raine.
SA’s energy crisis, he explains, has been an unexpected ally for EVs, because if the point of an electric vehicle is to reduce the carbon footprint of passenger transport it is somewhat counterproductive to charge the car using coal-fired power supplied by Eskom.
The fast-rising cost of electricity in SA, coupled with the frustration of load-shedding has spurred many who can afford it to invest in rooftop solar PV at their homes, the same customer pool likely to consider buying an EV, thus creating exactly the kind of power infrastructure best-suited to EVs.
Raine admits there are some barriers to EV adoption. Consumers fear the limitations posed by the driving range, there is a lack of charging infrastructure, and the industry needs price parity.
It makes no sense that EVs are subject to 25% import duties while internal combustion engine cars face a tariff of 18%, Raine says.
Fuel prices
EV passenger cars can be up to 50% more expensive than their internal combustion engine counterparts, but Raine says this is an unfair comparison. (The Mercedes-Benz EQ electric vehicle range available in SA are priced from about R1.1m to R3.2m.)
“Don’t just look at the price tag, look at the cost of ownership. A huge cost item for car owners is fuel and when you consider that fuel prices have increased by about 35% this year it is much cheaper to own an EV.”
South Africans spend up to R4,000-R6,000 per month on fuel just to travel between home, work and school, according to Rainer. In comparison, running an EV on a similar basis would cost only about R1,000 a month. But, he says, “the whole system only works” when the EVs are charged using solar energy.
As to the other concerns, the government needs to put the framework in place that will allow for faster installation of a wide EV charging station network across SA. Like petrol stations, the government does not have to invest in putting up the stations, it must just make sure there are no regulatory hurdles for the private sector to do so, says Raine.
Mercedes-Benz and other car manufacturers are working with GridCars to grow the charge point network in SA.
Due to the existing charging station network it is already possible, Raine says, to travel between Johannesburg and Cape Town, but probably not between Durban and Cape Town. However, they are now investing in the installation of charge points in Harrismith, about halfway between Durban and Johannesburg on the N3, he says.
The installation of a home charging station is included with every Mercedes-Benz EQ EV sold. When fully charged they have a range of about 650km-750km and charging from empty to full takes about 45 minutes. On a trip between Johannesburg and Cape Town a driver will thus have to make two pit stops of about 30 minutes each to recharge, says Raine. A driver would probably have made these anyway to refuel and refresh.
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