When I grew up in the 1960s the older generation split themselves into two camps: Ford men or Chev men. The South African accent often pronouncing it Fort or Chef.
Wayward religious and political and sports affiliations were at times condoned, but switching from Ford to Chev, or vice versa, was never forgiven.
Growing up in a carless home, means I have no preference; therefore, I’ll pick alphabetically and get back to Ford in a future article.
Chevrolet was founded by Swiss American racer Louis Chevrolet, in 1911. Today it is the dominant member of General Motors selling 1.6 vehicles in the US in 2021. Chev is known for adopting innovative technologies early and thus gaining an advantage over other brands. Its Chevette, Camaro, Corvette, Impala, and ’55 Chevy have become American icons and immortalized in movies (Transformers) and songs such as American Pie (Don Maclean), Little Red Corvette (Prince), and Old ’55 (Tom Waits).
Chevrolet has always pursued an aggressive global marketing campaign and most South Africans of a certain age will fondly remember the Braaivleis, Rugby, Sunny Skies, and Chevrolet advertisements which portrayed the brand as an intrinsic part of the SA landscape.
In 2010 Chev dipped its toes in the EV market and released the Volt – a plug-in hybrid. It won, among others, the North American Car, and European of the Year awards. In 2012 it was the world’s top-selling ‘electric’ car and still ranks as the top-selling hybrid. These numbers are relative, due to the subsequent exponential growth in all-electric vehicles.
In 2010 Chev dipped its toes in the EV market and released the Volt – a plug-in hybrid. It won, among others, the North American Car, and European of the Year awards. In 2012 it was the world’s top-selling ‘electric’ car and still ranks as the top-selling hybrid. These numbers are relative, due to the subsequent exponential growth in all-electric vehicles.
Part of this growth includes Chevy’s Bolt the world’s first fully electric car produced for the mass market. With a range of 320km, it won a slew of motoring and green awards and made Time Magazine’s 2016 list of Best Inventions. One can see this as a Model-T Ford moment when EVs ceased to be toys for the rich and it became possible for the average American to own a mass-produced known brand EV.
2016 seems a long time ago, not simply because of Covid disruption, but because EVs are in a growth phase and huge developments have happened in the intervening 6 years. Chevrolet’s website promises an Electrifying Experience and they seem set to back their words with actions. In 2022 Chevrolet released the new generation Bolt EV which is again aimed at the bottom end of the market. It is also releasing the Bolt EUV, which they describe as having state-of-the-art technology including an intuitive infotainment system and optional semi-autonomous drive mode (Super Cruise). Also in the pipeline is the Silverado RST an all-electric bakkie, boasting a range of 600km, 660HP, 5 seconds from 0 to 100km/h, and 1000Nm torque. In my conversations with ZCC Network Partners, many have expressed the desire for an all-electric bakkie. The Chevy Silverado sounds like just the thing, but unfortunately, GM divested from SA in 2018 which means that environmentally-minded South African motorists can’t look forward to a competitively priced entry-level Chevy EV, and farmers can’t look forward to a Chevy workhorse e-Bakkie. The Chevrolet website promises EVs for Everyone, Everywhere.
I guess that settles the Ford man vs Chev man debate, and more’s the pity, because we need every cheap proven EV on the market, sooner rather than later. The Chevrolet website also promises: EVs for Everyone, Everywhere … but not EVs for Africa. And that leaves me with a twinge of apprehension. If the world’s 6th biggest automaker doesn’t see SA as a potential market, should we be worried? But then again GM has left our shores before, and perhaps there is a third act, and they’ll return to our country where our sunny skies are ideal to solar-charge a Bolt EV.
AUTHOR: TIM SANDHAM
Tim is a greying redhead who thinks green. He is the author of books on welding, soccer and Herman Charles Bosman
