Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) has postponed the local introduction of its first fully electric vehicle (EV), the EQC.

“The market introduction and start of sales of the EQC was set to take place in 2020, but due to the significant disruption of Covid-19 and other contributing factors, we took the decision to postpone the market introduction to early 2022,” says Mercedes-Benz Cars South Africa marketing director Selvin Govender.

“We believe the EQ range needs a proper introduction into the local market. These models will set the tone for the brand’s leadership in the field of future innovation and technology, as well as establish the path to future sustainable motoring.”

Govender says the current plan is, in fact, to introduce four EQ models into South Africa, namely the EQA (compact car), EQB (sports-utility vehicle, or SUV), EQC (SUV) and EQS (sedan).

The EQ range encompasses all of Mercedes-Benz’s electric vehicles. The EQA is the entry-level vehicle to this range.

Govender says the pricing for the EQC will be finalised and announced closer to market introduction in 2022. 

“We, however, do not believe that the price differential between Mercedes-Benz EQ models, and the equivalent ICE derivative, will be that big.”

“While electric vehicle sales are relatively small in South Africa, we cannot escape the global push towards zero-emission mobility, currently spearheaded by the European Union,” he adds.

“Our chairman of the board of management of Daimler, Ola Kallenius, has already stated that, over the next 20 years, Mercedes-Benz cars aims to have a carbon-neutral new-passenger-car fleet, and that it aims to have plug-in hybrids or all-electric vehicles make up more than 50% of its car sales by 2030.”

Under its CASE – connected, autonomous, shared & services, and electric – corporate strategy, Mercedes-Benz Cars is to focus on autonomous driving, flexible vehicle use and electric drive systems going into the future.

“In South Africa, Mercedes-Benz Cars aims to play a leading role in all four areas of the strategy,” says Govender.

He admits that South Africa is not without its challenges in terms of the EV landscape, such as disruptive power supply and additional taxes on EVs, especially on vehicles from Europe.

“However, based on the interest shown by potential customers in the EQ range, we are confident that the cars we bring into the country will find happy owners. 

“Many of these potential customers have also indicated that they have invested/or plan to invest in renewable energy solutions such as solar, which makes the switch to electric logical,” explains Govender.

He says Mercedes-Benz Cars South Africa is an active member of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa’s (Naamsa’s) Electric, Hybrid and Alternative Vehicle Committee, and supports the call for government to give “serious consideration” to a number of requests from the automotive sector related to EVs.

These include incentivising EV manufacturing; reducing EV import duties in comparison to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles; incentivising the purchase of EVs through subsidies, such as reduced tax and improved fringe benefits; incentivising EV financing in a combined effort from government and industry; and ensuring combined industry and government investment in public charging infrastructure in order to reduce range anxiety for customers.

Govender says despite the fact that Mercedes-Benz EQ models will be rolled out with an ever-increasing range, public charging infrastructure remains a challenge in South Africa because no customer would want to be without sufficient range on his or her vehicle.

“Given the fact that charging an electric vehicle is not as fast as refuelling an ICE vehicle, customers would need assurance regarding supporting infrastructure in order to feel safe and stress-free. This can only be achieved through the rapid development of a reliable charging infrastructure.”

When it comes to incentives to purchase EVs, it is interesting to note that the EQA is launching in Germany with considerable monetary support.

Based on the net list price of under 40 000 euros for the EQA 250, an innovation premium of 9 000 euros (with the federal government’s share at 6 000 euros and Mercedes-Benz’s share at 3 000 euros) is possible.

With this, the EQA costs 37 970.50 euros in Germany, including VAT.

Also, if the EQA is used as a company car, only a quarter of the gross list price is subject to taxation for private use.