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Africa|Coal|Coal-fired Power Station|drives|Environment|Financial|Pipes|Power|Repairs|Road|Services
Africa|Coal|Coal-fired Power Station|drives|Environment|Financial|Pipes|Power|Repairs|Road|Services
africa|coal|coalfired-power-station|drives|environment|financial|pipes|power|repairs|road|services

Electric vehicles

12th July 2019

By: Terry Mackenzie-hoy

     

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Everybody wants to do his or her bit to save the environment. Some want to be a bit more public about it and so graduate from recycling their rubbish to owning an electric vehicle (EV). It is the ultimate ‘green statement’. As you pull away noiselessly, the vehicle hums: “Yes! I care! Vooommm!”

All the big manufacturers are investing in EVs. Type in ‘electric cars’ and you will raise eight-million hits. But there are not that many of them in this country.

By definition, EVs carry the power pack with them, as in batteries. The charge in the battery is the fuel and this fuel, as in electric current, goes through an electronic converter to drive the motor, which drives the wheels. No gearbox needed – you control the speed with a pedal, like a sewing machine. The EVs give off no emissions and the cost of charging the battery at a charging station is less than the fuel for a petrol car. But they are not pollution free. Charging power causes an increase in greenhouse gases, if supplied by a coal-fired power station. But, really, who cares? EVs are very sexy.

There are drawbacks. There are plans for charging stations every 100 km to 150 km along the N1 between Cape Town and Pretoria, along the N2 between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and along the N3 between Johannesburg and Durban. But not all over South Africa. So, if you want to go off the main road, you are limited by the distance an EV can travel – less than 500 km between charges. You will also have to take more padkos, because it takes about 40 minutes a charge.

Another problem is one of insurance. Insurers know what the statistics are on the repair bill for most common vehicle accidents (bumper scrapes, collisions, fires, et cetera) so they set the premium accordingly. For an EV, there are no statistics, so the premium will be high. And, if the EV needs repairs, the hitherto friendly specialised EV repair shop owner will develop hooded eyes like a money lender and charge like a wounded buffalo. Even more, one begets the other: will there be any repair shops at all? How many EVs do you need to justify a repair shop?

Speaking of money lenders, will all those wonderful licensed financial services providers advance money to buy EVs? If I get a car loan and then do not pay, they send the repo man. And they sell the car to recover costs. We know the market stats for used bakkies and the like, but what is the market for used EVs? You can be sure your vehicle finance loan will be adjusted upwards accordingly.

And then, yes, is the price. Last year, a Nissan Leaf would have cost about R500 000 plus the charger at an additional R30 000. That model was discontinued, so no new prices are available. A Jaguar I Pace is set at about R1.6-million. Even with low operating costs, you are never going to get this sort of money back. By comparison, there are seven cars in South Africa that cost less than R140 000. In addition, you can get a Mercedes-Benz A Class hatchback for about R499 000 plus value-added tax. You really have to be a very committed green environmentalist to prefer a Nissan Leaf over the Merc.

Then there is the never-mentioned EV problem – there is no sound of the engine exhaust. When you are flying along at 150 km/h, about to overtake some homeboy racer, you want to shove the deep-throated roar of your mighty machine down his pipes. Zaaaaaaaa! Electricccc Carrrrrr! But Evs are silent. This may suit the girls, but it will not suit the guys, I promise. However, you can buy the sound effects of a Tesla Model X – doors, interior noise – for a paltry $119. Go listen (https://www.asoundeffect.com/sound-library/tesla-electric-car/) – it sounds like a large vacuum cleaner robot. Not the best feature of any EV, I promise.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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