It’s probably fair to say that the global electric vehicle explosion has largely bypassed South Africa.
South Africans typically spend a lot of time in their cars commuting and enjoying the great African outdoors. For whatever reason, South Africans have been slow to embrace the emerging electric vehicle market.
International growth vs South African sales
Internationally, electric passenger car sales rose by 63% in 2018 as compared to 2017. To meet the growing number of electric vehicles, it’s estimated that there were about 5.2 million electric vehicle charging points in place worldwide.
Despite the international growth of electric vehicle sales, South African electric vehicle sales actually decreased in 2018 over 2017.
While the limited availability of electric vehicles in South Africa certainly has played a role for many, the logistics of finding charging points that fit into their normal travelling is probably a deciding factor.
Added to that is the fact that for many, the family road trip is still a central part of holiday plans. At the moment, planning a road trip to the coast seems like a lot of additional work compared to just jumping into your regular petrol guzzler and heading out onto one of the National roads.
Go on an electric road trip
Generation.e is looking to change that perception of electric vehicles by taking a group of South Africans on an Electric Vehicle Road Trip from Pretoria to Cape Town.
In order to facilitate the trip Generation.e will be rolling out charging stations along the route, powered by ACDC Dynamics. Ben Pullen, CEO of Generation.e, explains:
“Whilst infrastructure development has been relatively good when measured against the number of electric vehicles in South Africa; there is still a growing need to expand and strengthen infrastructure, especially as we expect the number of electric vehicles to grow considerably in 2020. It will be this way for many years to come, which presents a clear opportunity for South African businesses and entrepreneurs.”
Go electric for the future
Generation.e sees the Electrical Vehicle Road Trip as helping to bring awareness and speeding up the adoption of electric vehicles in the country.
Broader adoption of electric vehicles is a long-term solution to the problems of pollution, carbon emissions, as well as the rising cost of fuel.
“This network will lay the foundation for mass expansion across South Africa to support smarter mobility. Our goal is to make smarter mobility options a reality for all South Africans by providing a national charging network and the technology to support it,” says Mario Maio, CEO at ACDC Dynamics.
Visit Electric Vehilce Road Trip for more info on how to be part of the epic road trip, and become a part of expanding the electric vehilce infrastruction in South Africa.
