Should South Africans switch to electric cars to reduce their environmental footprint? The answer is no.
The Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies group has called for government grants to encourage the purchase of EVs to reduce the environmental footprint of the automotive sector. In isolation this makes no sense, because of the enormous environmental footprint associated with the manufacture of new vehicles, regardless of type.
This omission is likely to be kinder to EVs than to internal combustion engines; South Africa’s electricity is predominantly produced from coal, 90% of South Africa’s electricity is produced from coal, the mining and processing of which is a remarkably dirty business. Still, it is fair to assume that the impacts of extraction for each energy source are fairly comparable so, for a preliminary broad analysis, fuel-to-wheels is a reasonable basis of comparison.
Quibbling over percentage points of fuel-to-wheel efficiency seems like a ridiculous exercise when energy wastage at the wheel exceeds the actual useful work by a factor of 25. The core issue of personal transportation is the sheer quantity of energy used, not the source of that energy. From a technological standpoint, this excessive energy use is a solved problem – there are alternative modes of transport that use a fraction of the energy.
The cars that are part of an optimised network may well be electrically driven, but with an ownership pattern shifted toward car-sharing to increase usage rates per vehicle, reducing manufacturing burden relative to usage as well as reducing the percentage of charge that is wasted.
“ Electric “ and Eskom don’t sit well together ! Stay with diesel and petrol .
The EVs will always remain a solution for South Africa. Excuses mentioned here are not valid
This CityPress / GroundUp is basically stating that Public transport is the answer to reduce environmental footprint. Can't argue with that. Pity the taxi industry & ANC has destroyed PRASA and bus services to force commuters to mini-bus service.
Fix the loadshedding first ...
For as long the EV's will get power from coal generated electricity, it means they do not serve the purpose of reducing carbon footprint. Also electricity in country has become very expensive.
I can't believe this I'm sure you have seen post about JonathanHele helping people, I gave her a try and I can boldly stand and tell everyone she is legit and real...
We don't have proper roads for them. I agree.