A few days ago the Chinese Electric Vehicle manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams) released it's sales figures for the first time. BYD launched three years ago back in 2023 has kept it's sales figures secret up till now.
BYD sold 589 EV's last month with their small hatchback accounting for nearly 40% of their sales. This model has a range of 300-400km so is ok as a run around type vehicle, but not for longer distances.
South Africa with EV's is in it's infancy with many being rightfully hesitant knowing electricity supply is not a given like it is elsewhere. The number of charging stations is on the rise, but they are not widely available so you would have to really plan any type of long distant trip. The other problem is the number of charging stations available at the sites are only a few so the chances of having to queue and wait for availability would be high.
BYD has the cheaper EV models and why their sales have picked up and after 3 years the numbers are still showing this is a niche market. South Africa is a vast country with large distances between major towns and even on a normal business day driving 200km or 300km is not unexpected. If the ranges were closer to 800-1000km only then would consumers start paying attention.
In 2029 two coal power stations are expected to be decommissioned and many predict this will see load shedding reappear. Loadshedding may not be officially taking place yet we all know this is being hidden by "unplanned" outages which over the last 12 months saw an average of 300 daily nationally. Call it what you like, but loadshedding is still very much alive and the public are not quite ready to embrace electric vehicles.
Tesla was due to launch in SA this year, but with the political situation between the US and SA not exactly strong delaying the launch would be advisable. The trade deal SA has with the US sees an automatic 25% on vehicles imported from all countries besides the EU who are charges 18%. Electric vehicles however see an automatic 25% from all regions. BYD benefits with it's sales currently due to price and we all know this is due to subsidies provided by the Chinese Government.
The timing is wrong for EV's in SA right now as this is still too early and needs a few stable years of electricity along with the ranges to increase. A hybrid would make more sense in SA than a full on EV currently and the infrastructure supporting EV's needs to be increased covering all major routes.
SA is a good 10 years behind the rest of the world (being kind) and we have only seen companies popping up that provide EV charging stations. I know someone who was head hunted last year and is working for one of these new companies and he mentioned this is still 5 years away of being where it has to be. The more EV's sold each month the bigger the problem will be as the infrastructure will be playing catch up.
The problem is many of the so called fast charges are 60kwh and a EV with a 78kwh battery would require an hours charge. A trip to Durban would require 2 stops with the current charging facilities only having two chargers at the half way point. Logically they would need hundreds and two just does not help anyone. This is what they mean when another 5 years is still required.