Electric Vehicles: Market Intelligence Report 2019

The report examines South Africa's nascent electric vehicle (EV) market, highlighting a strong existing automotive manufacturing base that could be leveraged for EV production. While global EV sales are growing exponentially, South Africa faces significant barriers including high import duties, lack of policy certainty, and a lack of affordable products for the middle class. Key opportunities are identified in electric bus manufacturing, lithium-ion battery production, and passenger vehicle exports. The document also details the role of the Western Cape as a greentech hub and outlines the transition from the Automotive Production & Development Programme (APDP) to the South African Automotive Masterplan (SAAM) 2021-2035.

• Global electric vehicle sales are experiencing exponential growth, with projections estimating five million units sold in 2019, compared to one million in 2015.
• South Africa's automotive sector is a major economic contributor, generating over R500 billion in revenue in 2017 and employing approximately 900,000 workers, though it remains focused on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
• The public transport sector, specifically electric buses, is identified as the most viable business case for electrification in South Africa due to existing domestic production and high local content requirements (70% to 80%) for public procurement.
• South Africa is well-positioned for lithium-ion battery (LIB) production because it possesses 78% of the world's manganese, a key material for nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode chemistry.
• High import duties and luxury taxes create a significant price barrier for EVs in South Africa; total taxes on EVs and hybrids reach 42%, compared to 18% for ICE vehicles.
• The transition to EVs could provide a balance of trade saving of ZAR 8.1 billion per year if one million EVs were introduced, by reducing oil imports by 58 PJ/a.
• Widespread EV adoption poses a fiscal risk to the South African government as it relies heavily on fuel levies, which were expected to collect R77.5 billion in the 2018/19 financial year.
• The South African Automotive Masterplan (SAAM) 2021-2035 aims to increase local content of assembled vehicles to 60% (from 38.74%) and double employment in the automotive value chain to 224,000 jobs.
• Charging infrastructure in South Africa is currently limited to approximately 120 publicly accessible stations, mostly located in Gauteng and consisting primarily of AC chargers.

APA

GreenCape (2019). Electric Vehicles: Market Intelligence Report 2019. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ELECTRIC-VEHICLES-MARKET-INTELLIGENCE-REPORT-WEB4-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Electric Vehicles: Market Intelligence Report 2019. 2019. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ELECTRIC-VEHICLES-MARKET-INTELLIGENCE-REPORT-WEB4-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Electric Vehicles: Market Intelligence Report 2019 |date=2019 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ELECTRIC-VEHICLES-MARKET-INTELLIGENCE-REPORT-WEB4-3.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencape2019electric, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Electric Vehicles: Market Intelligence Report 2019}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2019}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ELECTRIC-VEHICLES-MARKET-INTELLIGENCE-REPORT-WEB4-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }