By Sue Segar, Associate Editor at Cape Business News
THE Western Cape Mobility department is set to meet with representatives from the car-manufacturing company, Nissan, this month (August) to “hear directly from the company’s CEOs about their plans for the introduction of new electric vehicles into the market”, as the department plans and prepares to slowly transition its 7 000-strong vehicle fleet from fuel to electric.
Representatives from the department would also, soon, be holding meetings with Toyota, according to Yasir Ahmed, the acting head of department. “Toyota are doing very exciting development work in battery technology and are looking at solid state batteries for their EVs.”
In an interview with Cape Business News, Ahmed said the process of transitioning from fuel to electric would unfold over the next five years. However, he stressed that, while the Western Cape Government is firmly committed to make the switch, their strategy is not to buy thousands of electric vehicles just yet.
This is for two reasons, Ahmed said: “Firstly because the market is very restricted with the makes and models of the electric vehicles that are available right now. You have very high end electric vehicles, like the bigger BMWs, Audis and Mercedes, which are really not fit for purpose for our use in government. So we are monitoring the market.”
He said it was hard to say how long it would take to get the whole fleet transitioned to electric. “What we would require is a clear indication from the market on how soon they are going to be introducing new models of EVs into South Africa and the Western Cape and specifically vehicle models that would be practical for use by government. We are not looking at the BMW X5 electrical or the Mercedes S class EVs, but we are looking at ones that will be practical for use by officials like the Nissan Leaf, and the VW ID3.
He said the department was very interested in the new Nissan Leaf which was on show at the first NAAMSA SA Autoweek in 2022 and which will be introduced in SA from 2024, hence the engagement this month with Nissan representatives.
“From 2024 onwards, we should see a picking up of the momentum of introducing more EVs into our fleet. Bearing in mind that we have a fleet of about 7 000 vehicles in the Western Cape so the process of replacing vehicles or replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles will be phased in over many years.”
I must point out that it is important to note that currently EVs are seen as a luxury and there is in fact an import tax applied to them. There are indications that the DTIC, that minister Patel’s department has hinted there could be an announcement in March next year on that subject and we are hopeful that if that import tax and duty is reduced the EVs will become more affordable for our fleet as well as for the general public.”
Ahmed stressed that the Western Cape government is committed to transitioning to electric vehicles, despite the current hurdles.
He said a key part of the department’s strategy is, ahead of the move to EV, to start creating an ecosystem for electric vehicles, including setting up the charging infrastructure for EVs at government facilities, as well as working with the private sector to ensure that there are charging points throughout the provinces where our vehicles would be driving.
Charging infrastructure progress
“One of the sites where the Western Cape Government has now recently established this charging infrastructure is the Karl Bremer hospital site, where the charging infrastructure for EVs will be supplied with renewable energy sources. The parking facilities at Karl Bremer now host solar PV installation, which will charge batteries, and the batteries will be used to charge the EVs that will be rolled out over the years.”
Ahmed said the R17 million PV project, undertaken by the provincial Public Works department, is the first of a number of sites which have been identified as pilot sites.
“There are two other sites currently under construction. We have charging facilities at the government garage in Maitland, where the EVs we currently have are parked for charging. Those facilities were installed when we bought the EVs – BMW i3s – to draw attention to this initiative.
“The charging infrastructure is being set up now so that it is in place for the transition from internal combustion to electric.
“We aim for five charging stations initially, and five sites have been identified, with Karl Bremer as the first; and the others are in various stages of design and construction.”
Ahmed said while the solar panels have already been installed at Karl Bremer, the actual charging point is currently in procurement and will be fitted soon.
“What we call greening the fleet is one of our strategic outcomes, and we are absolutely committed to achieving that outcome. While we’re looking at EVs, we are also monitoring the market as far as green hydrogen is concerned and will be engaging with the motor vehicle industry, and with the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) through the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (NAAMSA), to get an understanding of what their plans are for all New Energy Vehicles.”
