Abstract
Transitioning to new energy vehicles (NEV) is viewed by many countries globally, as prime solution towards reducing greenhouse gases that are produced by internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This has driven many countries around the world to make announcements about banning ICE vehicles and adopt NEVs as their primary mode of transportation in the near future. While this transition is vital and necessary, it presents a number of challenges for different countries. Some of these challenges, i.e., driving range, charging infrastructure, higher costs, investments, charging time, user-education, and support, are a hinderance that delays the adoption of NEV in many countries.
As South Africa has commenced with the transition journey, there is a gap of limited availability of data to understand the requirements for a successful transition with the projected rise in NEVs. Therefore, this research work was intended to close this gap by outlining all the fundamental requirements that the South African automotive industry needs to consider to successfully transition to NEV. To achieve this, a Qualitative Content Analysis was conducted using secondary data of big players in the automotive sector, such as China, Norway, UK, France, Brazil, Germany, and USA. This analysis was done to expose the existence of transition challenges, the implemented strategies by each to mitigate them, and thereby deducing valuable lessons that can be applicable to South Africa.
The results shows that South Africa is likely to be affected by the similar challenges (costs, infrastructure, investment, education, and support) as China and Brazil, as developing countries and part of BRICS countries. Therefore, the South African government and all key stakeholders in the automotive industry need to focus investment in developing the charging infrastructure, making provisions for incentives and subsidies, and fast-track the establishment of policy framework to support NEV transition. Further studies to quantify the investment required in line with the projections for South Africa is recommended. Furthermore, an education drive to address the lack of knowledge challenge is another aspect that needs focus from government and stakeholders in the automotive industry.