By: Nghiinomenwa Erastus
The path to green economies is an unmaintained gravel road, and with the introduction of electric vehicles (EV), some countries will lag with a distance.
For Namibia, lack of conducive infrastructures such as recharging EVs, energy insecurity and the complexity of the electric vehicles are some factors that Namibia needs to consider before jumping in.
Any analysis done by Simonis Storm last week revealed that despite a positive uptake of EV worldwide for Namibia, there are some concerns.
The research and wealth management company indicated that the lack of charging station infrastructure and lack of electricity connections in some remote regions would be one of the issues faced by EV rollout.
Another would be the range of batteries.
The average distance between popular towns is about 280km, and fully charged batteries provide an average distance of 400km (provided one drive on average 120km/h).
While the range of batteries has increased in recent years, there remains the researchers call ‘range anxiety’ amongst consumers who want to travel far distances.
“Implying that EVs might primarily be used as city cars and not for inter-regional travel in Namibia,” Simonis Storm’ researchers wrote.
So far, one EV charging station was launched at Grove Mall in Windhoek at the end of January 2022, using the solar energy from panels installed on the mall’s rooftop to power the charging station.
A full charge can take about 30 minutes on average.
Grove mall customers may use this charging station for the next twelve months.
Also, BMW has one EV charging station on their premises in Windhoek that is available for client use at the dealership’s expense.
The researchers also highlighted a potential joint venture with a South African company to establish charging station infrastructure in Namibia, which will have central billing for EVs (regardless of brand) when registered to charge their EV at strategic points in Namibia.
The project is expected to commence from 2Q2022.
Another local investor is planning on erecting charging stations along the Windhoek – Oshakati and Windhoek – Swakopmund routes.
THE TRANSITION JOURNEY
At the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) gathering in November 2021, 30 national governments and 11 automakers (Ford, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors and Volvo, amongst others) pledged to completely phase out the manufacturing and selling of petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles.
This is to be achieved by 2035 in leading markets and 2040 worldwide.
However, automakers such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai-Kia and Nissan-Renault alliances did not partake in the pledge.
Also, the governments of the US, China, and Japan include some of the largest automotive manufacturing countries who abstained from this pledge.
In January 2022, Toyota announced plans to invest US$3,4 billion in the US until 2030 to establish a new company and build its first American battery plant as part of their electric vehicle supply chain.
According to Simonis Storm insights, should more countries change their hearts and make similar pledges and the rest stay true to their promise, Namibia will have a significant challenge in sourcing petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles.
Namibia is a net importer of passenger and commercial vehicles and accounts for a minute share of global vehicle sales, making the local market vulnerable to the extinction of petrol and diesel cars in the medium term.
“If these pledges are honoured, Namibians will have to endure a lifestyle change and adopt EVs on a grand scale,” Simonis Storm highlighted.
On to the actual benefit of driving EVs, the researchers compared the cost of refuelling a petrol tank to recharging an EV.
Assuming the average city dweller drives 880km per month in Windhoek and calculates that monthly petrol costs amount to N$1 276 for a petrol-powered car compared to N$894 for an EV.
Driving with an EV saves you N$382 (70% of the petrol engine cost) per month, found Simonis Storm.
This equates to annual savings of N$4 584 from driving an EV daily.
To drive the same distance, petrol prices will have to reduce to N$11,18 per litre to bring the monthly refuelling cost in line with recharging an EV’s battery. Email: erastus@thevillager.com.na
