The much talked about electric vehicle (EV) strategy has started opening the doors to further debate around costs and potential infrastructure problems accompanying these cars. Many also feel that the product's slow take-off rate in other areas of the world is another major concern, especially when choosing to go green seems to be such an obvious move.
Taking costs into consideration first, industry commentators are expecting electric vehicles to hit the local market at a cost approximately 20% higher than their petrol counterparts, which to most consumers is not an affordable option. But this angle and justification of why EV sales will not take off is a wrong one. It's not about weighing up the extra cost of capital to the consumer and trying to off-set this value with the fuel savings, according to Wayne Duvenage, chief executive of Avis Rent a Car.
“There is far more to the story," said Duvenage who believed that there is a large percentage of people who will opt to “buy down” and choose a less luxurious electric vehicle for the pure savings in petrol costs, along with other factors such as reduced service costs and affecting the environment that come into the decision.
The much talked about electric vehicle (EV) strategy has started opening the doors to further debate around costs and potential infrastructure problems accompanying these cars. Many also feel that the product's slow take-off rate in other areas of the world is another major concern, especially when choosing to go green seems to be such an obvious move.
Taking costs into consideration first, industry commentators are expecting electric vehicles to hit the local market at a cost approximately 20% higher than their petrol counterparts, which to most consumers is not an affordable option. But this angle and justification of why EV sales will not take off is a wrong one. It's not about weighing up the extra cost of capital to the consumer and trying to off-set this value with the fuel savings, according to Wayne Duvenage, chief executive of Avis Rent a Car.
“There is far more to the story," said Duvenage who believed that there is a large percentage of people who will opt to “buy down” and choose a less luxurious electric vehicle for the pure savings in petrol costs, along with other factors such as reduced service costs and affecting the environment that come into the decision.
For example, Duvenage speculated that if a buyer's budget for a new car be approximately R300 000, and an electric model with less luxurious features is introduced into the same price category, the electric model may well be considered in place of the more luxurious petrol-powered option. He predicted the benefits of EVs to be “huge savings in energy costs, which we’re putting in at around 75% and 80%”.
A calculation worked out on the electric vehicles’ usage pattern of around 15kWh per 100km at R20, versus the current average petrol vehicles’ usage pattern of R100 worth of fuel per 100km.
An area of concern was around the infrastructure that supports battery charging for electric vehicles, but the reality in South Africa is that 70% of car travel is used for commuting to work and back, plus other short trips which are usually below a distance of the current battery range (of approximately 150km), so a plug point at home and maybe the office is more than sufficient. At this point the installation of power points in petrol garages is not a priority or a real necessity, until fast booster charge technology comes into play, which it will.
So why is the shift to electric motoring moving at such a slow pace when the people and businesses the world over are making big, bold steps to go green?
According to Duvenage “One reason is the limited range of vehicles and people worry that they may need to travel further than the battery range on the odd occasion." He reasons that these fears should not continue to stand in the way because "that's why car rental and car pool companies exist," and "the sooner people become comfortable with their needs being met by rental rather than ownership, the quicker this paradigm will break." He said that Europe is fast moving in this direction, although it will take longer to catch on in South Africa.
Duvenage believed that car manufacturers are far behind where they could and should be in terms of developing EVs, “and one senses that this is fast becoming a case of 'hurry up and change fast' or become the subject of those not-too-distant dinner table discussions of 'remember that motor manufacturer?'"
