Wow, the year is flying by! In the world of electric vehicles (EVs) things are moving rapidly. It’s really happening! Worldwide and locally.
Locally, we welcome President Ramaphosa’s announcement that the government is going to ease the way for independents to generate electricity and fast-track engineering students towards EV production jobs.
Abroad, the UK (Europe’s 3rd largest car market) has ruled that no new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles may be sold after 2030. This will have a massive impact on ICE development which takes about 8 years. Rendering it pointless to develop ANY car for the UK market from 2022 onward. 2 million new cars are sold in the UK every year. From 2030 that will be 2 million EVS. In Europe almost 25% of new cars sold are EVs. Hyundai in Korea has committed to rapidly phasing out ICE vehicles. In China, BYD sold 97 000 EVs in December 2021, by May 2022 it had set a new record of 114 000. California – if it were to secede from the US – would be the world’s 5th largest economy – yet with all that wealth and oil, it is also banning new ICE vehicle sales from 2035. It leads the US in EV sales and passed the 1 million EV mark in 2022. On top of that, Gavin Newsom the Californian governor has launched a $10 billion incentive to “expand access and affordability, support build-out of infrastructure”
This brings us back to Zero Carbon Charge and our quest to create a renewable energy charging network of 120 EV charging stations across southern Africa.
EV sales are slow but steady in SA, but according to a Bloomberg article, once the tipping point of 5% of new car sales is reached, adoption is rapid. We project that 5% will be reached in 2027 when affordable EVs will be introduced into the SA market. Our commitment is to be ready to supply renewable energy to these cars on all national routes, every 150km.
THIS MAP INDICATES ALL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS IN PROCESS
Applications are submitted continuously
We are on track
We are on track to start construction on our first station at Dassiesfontein, near Caledon. Concurrently we have land use applications in process in all 9 provinces. As we all know, municipal and provincial processes take time. They take time because they have to protect the interests of the communities and the environment. Briefly, the process works as follows: an initial environmental study is made by EnviroAfrica to establish feasibility and an “Applicability application” is submitted for approval to the department, this takes about a month; architect Deon Wessels draws up and submits basic building and site plans for the specific site, which also takes about a month; and, lastly, town-planning applications are submitted to the appropriate town-planning office by CK Rumboll and partners, this can take up to 6 months if everything runs smoothly and there are no objections.
Unfortunately, these processes can’t be rushed. Fortunately, the above processes can run concurrently within a 6-month period. Depending on how organised a municipal town-planning office is, it may be completed in less than 6 months. As we are progressing all of us are getting better at coordinating the above processes.
DASSIESFONTEIN (N2) RENEWABLE ENERGY CHARGING SITE DESIGN
Be part of the legacy – a carbon free future for all.
Contact Joubert Roux if you want to become a network partner or have any questions.
EMAIL: [email protected]
PHONE: 082 804 1892
