Report leads the way to cleaner transport

Report leads the way to cleaner transport
Business Day reports on a report from The Department of Trade and Industry which looked at creating policies for cleaner and greener transport. On the subject of electric vehicles it has the following to say.

Regarding EVs, the playing field is anything but level. Just more than 300 EVs have been sold in SA. Antiquated legislation means that EVs from Europe attract a higher duty level than most other vehicles. Often they are placed into the luxury vehicle category. This means they are priced way beyond comparably-sized vehicles.

I wrote about how I thought the government could incentivise electric vehicles a few days ago. It's good to see that consideration is being given to incentives

The report makes clear recommendations for all sectors of society. It suggests that the government procure more EVs and only purchase the top three most fuel-efficient models. It recommends tax incentives for those who switch to alternative-fuel vehicles and emphasises that annual vehicle taxation should be based on a vehicle’s emission standard.

Unfortunately there are forces at hand in the country trying to push for fuel cell vehicles, obviously to benefit themselves.

Implats and Anglo-American, with various agencies, are pushing for SA to become a global leader in fuel-cell technology, mainly because of the country’s strong position in the platinum industry, platinum being an essential component in fuel cells.

It baffles me why anyone would want the complexities of a fuel cell vehicle over a straight plug-in battery powered one. I'm obviously not the only one because in places where fuel cell vehicles are available, sales have been minimal. One of the key advantages of a pure battery powered electric car, is it's simplicity and low maintenance. There is one moving part in an electric motor compared to hundreds in a conventional (ICE) internal combustion engine. There are no spark plugs, engine oil, oil filter, air filter or transmission fluid to replace and replenish. There is no metal rubbing against metal and wearing out in an electric motor. In Chevy's new all-electric Bolt, the first recommended maintenance check is at 150,000km, whereas most likely a petrol or diesel vehicle will need servicing at least every 15,000km.

I imagine fuel cell vehicles will require regular maintenance like an ICE vehicle. Also fuel cell vehicle will have to be filled up at special pumps, just like ICE vehicles, whereas a battery electric vehicle can be charged anywhere where there is electricity and a plug socket. Fuel cell vehicles are the Betamax of clean energy.

The report also mentions biofuel. This is another pointless direction to go in. Growing biofuel uses land that could be used for growing food and then when it's burned in a vehicle engine it's again putting Co2 into the atmosphere just like diesel and petrol. Also a biofuel powered vehicle will be just as noisy and emit the same amount of fumes as a petrol or diesel powered vehicle, making life unpleasant for other road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

South Africa’s electric vehicle plan

South Africa’s electric vehicle plan
An article from 3rd May 2013 from Brand South Africa describing the South African governments roadmap for electric vehicles in the country.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has announced plans, including incentives for manufacturers and possible tax incentives for consumers, aimed at establishing an electric vehicle industry in South Africa.

The article goes on to say.

Manufacturers who produced 5 000 electric vehicles annually would qualify for the incentive, with the government reimbursing them for 35% of their production costs over three years, according to the roadmap. The DTI said it was also looking at various possible tax incentives to encourage South Africans to buy electric vehicles.  

At the moment we can only dream of 5,000 EV's being manufactured locally per annum. Less than 500 in total have been sold since 2013 and these are all imported models. Knowing that the government were possibly planning to incentivise the manufacture and purchase of electric cars makes the apparent demise of the roadmap even more disappointing. Maybe manufacturers could have been tempted to move their overseas EV production to this country with incentives like that. For instance if 35% of the price could be deducted from a Nissan Leaf, it would sell for just over R300,000 locally, instead of just under R500,000. They also mention tax incentives for the purchaser to further sweeten the deal. That would make it a far more attractive proposition to new car buyers and with the saving in fuel coats would make it cheaper to own then a comparable petrol or diesel powered vehicle.

It appears the roadmap was due to go to parliament that September, presumably to be either accepted or rejected as official government policy

In June, the DTI will engage industry stakeholders, including the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA and National Union of Metalworkers of SA, on the road map, as well as invite public comment on the plan, before taking it to the Cabinet in September. Davies said the roadmap would be constantly monitored and reviewed as the industry was experiencing rapid technological advancement that would need to be taken into consideration.  

Unfortunately, I can't any recent references to this roadmap. All searches bring up articles from the same time as this one. It appears it might have died a death before it actually got started. This is unfortunate, if the roadmap had got into gear then maybe by now, four years later, their would be more electric vehicles on South Africa's roads and more infrastructure for charging.

Late last year The Electric Vehicle Industry Association was launched in South Africa, consisting of local car manufacturers and representatives from the government and other interested parties. I wrote about it on this blog last month. Since the launch of this association almost three months ago, there has been no more news to come out of it. Is this also going to be a non-starter like the roadmap?