Electric vehicles are coming to SA!

The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is set to pick up in South Africa in years to come, bringing changes to filling stations, road trips and how people pay to power their vehicles.

This is according to Payment24, a specialist in fuel and fleet management systems, which says EVs have been slow to take off in South Africa, but that uptake is set to grow as the upfront cost drops and as more infrastructure becomes available to support them.

Payment24 CEOs Shadab Rahil and Nolan Daniel note that the logistics of running EVs will mean that people will plan their trips around where they can charge their vehicles, and there will be changes in the way filling stations will entertain customers while they wait to charge their cars.

A slow start

Rahil and Daniel say that EV uptake in South Africa has been slow partly because the lowest-cost EVs available in South Africa are priced at around R600 000, and the number of public charging points is limited – particularly outside of the major metros.

“Range anxiety has also been a factor, with concern about what should happen if a battery runs out of power during a trip. But battery technology has improved dramatically, so EVs can now be charged overnight at home, or at a high-capacity public charging station in around 20 minutes, which would power a vehicle for 100 km or more. For most people, a 100 km range is ample for the day,” explains Daniel.

He says installing a public charging point can cost in the order of R1 million, making many fuel stations and other public facilities loath to invest when there are limited numbers of EVs on the road. With between 250 and 300 public charging stations across South Africa now, there is currently about one charging station for every four EVs in the country, reports Green Cape. This is one of the highest ratios of chargers versus EVs in the world.

EV uptake set to boom

EV prices are now dropping, and more vehicle manufacturers are entering this market, bringing more choice to South Africans. This charge (no pun intended) could be led by Chinese manufacturers, who can provide affordable EVs to the African markets in the near future. More EVs on the road will encourage the installation of more charging stations outside the major metros, making longer trips in EVs more feasible, and changing the face of the traditional South African road trip.

“Charging EVs will definitely change the fuel station experience,” Daniel says. “Where people could fill up with liquid fuel and be in and out in five minutes, with an EV they would be there for far longer – waiting their turn to charge, and then charging their vehicles. This will drive a change in what fuel stations offer their customers in terms of refreshments and entertainment.”

Strong business case for EVs

Rahil notes that once the initial costs of an EV have been overcome, there is a compelling case in favour of these vehicles: “Not only is the technology eco-friendly, but the running costs are significantly lower for EVs than ICE vehicles. It’s almost a 1:5 ratio of EVs to ICE vehicles, with power costs as low as 25c per km for an average EV. From a maintenance perspective, EVs have significantly fewer moving parts, so maintenance is much cheaper. We expect to see strong adoption among consumers, fleet owners, public transport and logistics companies.”

He notes that EV trucks will have significantly larger battery capacity than consumer vehicles, making electric power a compelling proposition for courier and logistics firms, who will likely embrace electric and hybrid power for everything from delivery scooters to large trucks.