BMW seeks partners to try out charging bays for electric cars

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Abbott said the motor industry and government had to take bold steps to encourage SA consumers to buy electric cars. Global BMW chairman Harald Krüger said this week in the long term "there is no alternative to e-mobility" - as the electric vehicle movement is called - because of the need for clean, sustainable transport. All the world's major motor companies are pursuing various versions of electric power.

Government must play its part

However, Abbott said governments had to play their part. In countries where sales of electric vehicles were thriving, they were supported by tax incentives, the widespread availability of car recharging stations and practical benefits such as access to city bus lanes during rush hour.

In SA, by contrast, import duties on electric cars were higher than those for large, petrol-guzzling 4x4s. In fact, they were classified in the same high-duty bracket as golf carts. Abbott said he and Nissan SA MD Mike Whitfield had tried to persuade the government, among other measures, to admit electric cars duty-free for a limited period to "kick-start" public interest.

Government officials including Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, have stated publicly their support for the principle of electric vehicles, but have not yet translated this into action. "They have not given us a reason why there should not be (action)," said Abbott.

He was speaking in Munich after attending a ceremony to mark the centenary of BMW. The company, which builds the BMW, RollsRoyce and Mini car brands, as well as BMW motorcycles, began life on 7 March 1916 as a manufacturer of aircraft engines.

Sustainable power will dominate

At the ceremony, Krüger said although petrol and diesel-powered vehicles would remain important for the foreseeable future, the eventual need for electric power would dominate.

In SA, where the industry sells more than 500,000 new vehicles annually, BMW and Nissan combined sold fewer than 500 electric cars in 2015. Abbott said "range anxiety" - consumers' fear that they would be stranded if their car ran out of power between recharges - was a major factor. But electric cars' driving range was increasing all the time; later this year, BMW SA would introduce a car capable of travelling more than 300km between recharges.

Solar power was a key part of the future, he said. BMW's pilot project involves inserting solar panels into covered outdoor parking areas, and using the stored energy for car-recharging points. His company planned two pilot schemes in Gauteng and one each in Durban and Cape Town.

Abbott confirmed that BMW SA had begun spending the R6bn invested by its German parent to build the next-generation X3 sports utility vehicle at its Rosslyn assembly plant, outside Pretoria. It is the single biggest investment yet in the local motor industry. The company had bought land adjacent to the factory, he said.

Rosslyn, which produces the 3 Series sedan, is expected to build the X3 from 2019. In the long term, one of its main markets will be sub-Saharan Africa and Abbott has been given responsibility for that region as well as SA.

Source: Business Day