The electric vehicle market in South Africa may be in its infancy, but the market for zero emissions vehicles is set to grow in the years to come, as new entrants gain traction.
Nissan South Africa recently introduced its fully electric city car, the Leaf, into the local market; BMW South Africa is set to launch its fully-electric i3 next year; and Volkswagen South Africa has also announced plans to test the local viability of electric mobility.
However, there is a concern that Eskom’s power capacity problems may be a hindrance to the rollout of electric vehicles locally.
Earlier this week, the power utility said electricity supply was under severe pressure and instructed large customers to reduce usage by 10%.
Speaking at the media launch of the Nissan Leaf on Thursday, Ross Garvie, chief marketing manager, said that Eskom’s ongoing capacity problems aside, South Africa is not unique – there is an ever-growing global hunger for power.
However, studies specific to South Africa suggest that there would have to be between 10 000 and 20 000 electric vehicles plugged in and charged in a very confined space - at the same time - for it to really have an impact on the power grid. Moreover, charging usually happens during off-peak times, when there is excess capacity available.
Garvie said South Africa will probably not reach these electric vehicle volumes in the next ten years and expects there to be enough power to service the local industry.
Sales
Nissan will start the rollout of electric vehicles with seven dealers in Gauteng. Capacity will be expanded to Cape Town and Durban next year and the group foresees that it will have between ten and 15 dealers by the end of 2014.
Both Nissan and BMW have indicated though, that the introduction of electric vehicles locally is not about sales volumes.
“I think the real volumes of electric cars are only going to take off probably in a year or two’s time when there is more than one brand in the market. I am not saying that Nissan doesn’t deserve to sell a 100% of the market share but it is just a fact – people have their brands,” Garvie said.
The introduction of the Nissan Leaf will be more about changing mindsets, building brand enthusiasm and changing the way people see mobility, he said.
“If I sell ten or 10 000, it doesn’t matter. It is not about that at this point in time.”
The Nissan Leaf has a 24kWh lithium ion battery, can drive up to 195 km on a full charge and has a top speed of 145 km/h. The normal charge will take around seven hours to charge from flat to full. A quick charge (up to 80%) will take between 15 and 20 minutes and will be available at Nissan dealerships or at shopping centres (in future).
