Did you know that in 2008 South Africa had four electric vehicle prototypes it showed off to the world?
In 2011 Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor told Parliament the Joule would need R9 billion to industrialise and this seemed out of reach because the EV market at the time was not a viable one to pursue. Parmar says the cars are still maintained and drivable but the technology within them is their true value.
Without fanfare, a flat tyre on one of the cars and a layer of dust on the roof of the other three, South Africa’s first locally made EVs were parked convoy style away from the charging station to allow the BMW i3 and the second-generation Nissan Leaf to grab some juice.The future of cars is electric but SA is lagging behind
“Looking at the passenger car market, that might be a bit too competitive because you have multinational manufacturers that have a strong hold in terms of that. Perhaps in the early days of local manufacturing, we need to look at niche markets in South Africa where we can drive EV manufacturing.” In it he states the “project died in the innovation chasm” – the gap between knowledge generators and the market – and that it wasn’t the huge amount of money required that killed it, arguing “this was feasible if the other factors were addressed”.
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