Wanna buy an electric car? Mbalula says load-shedding could be a problem

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Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has shared some of the concern around adopting electric cars, saying it’s a challenge because of Eskom’s load-shedding.

Mbalula, who was answering a written parliamentary question, said the biggest issues for electric cars in SA were “range anxiety” and power supply.

He said SA was facing several obstacles in encouraging people to move from fuel cars to electric cars.

“Range anxiety among consumers became key in discussions around electric vehicles. Though this has dramatically been alleviated with the recent provisioning and upgrade of over 200 charging stations throughout the country, it still remains a key challenge that we are constantly engaging among one another as government departments to resolve,” said Mbalula.

“The issue of the constrained power grid from Eskom also becomes a challenge for the overall uptake with a key issue of how these vehicles will be recharged should a major power outage occur, or even during the regular load-shedding intervals.”

Another significant issue facing the adoption of electric cars in SA, according to Mbalula, is cost.

He said some European countries have started offering financial incentives to switch to electric vehicles.

Mbalula said, by comparison, SA’s tax regime (import duties) for electric vehicles has created a barrier to trade.

“Compared with the around 18% import duty currently added to the price of a vehicle with an internal combustion engine landing in SA, an all-electric vehicle is taxed by up to 25%.

“Thus pushing the electric vehicle out of the typical affordability market also puts the electric car into being classified as luxury, irrespective of the type, or model of the car. The import duties are currently being imposed by the Department of Trade Industry and Competition,” he said.

In 2019, after getting behind the wheel of an electric car at the launch of the Electric Vehicle Road Trip charging station in Cape Town, Mbalula promised the government would “fix” Eskom to make way for the “future” that was electric cars.

“Test driving an electric vehicle — this is our future. Sizomlungisa (we will fix) Eskom, don’t worry. No more Vrrrr pha — just ‘mmmmmm’ total silence,” said Mbalula.

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