2023 ELECTRIC VEHICLES MARKET INTELLIGENCE REPORT

The report outlines the transition of South Africa's automotive industry toward electric vehicles, highlighting key opportunities in public transport, micro-mobility, private passenger vehicles, and lithium-ion cell manufacturing. It emphasizes the pressure from the European Union's 2035 ban on internal combustion engine vehicles to drive local production and the role of South Africa's mineral reserves in the battery value chain.

• The South African electric vehicle market is segmented into three primary investment opportunities: public transport, micro-mobility, and private passenger vehicles. The electric minibus taxi market is estimated at 356,485 vehicles valued at approximately R540 billion, while the electric bus market comprises 65,329 vehicles valued at R460 billion. The private passenger EV market is the largest, with approximately 7.8 million vehicles and an estimated value of R7.8 trillion.
• High import costs act as a significant barrier to EV adoption in South Africa. Imported EVs are subject to a 25% customs duty and an additional ad valorem (luxury goods) tax for vehicles valued over R600,000, creating a combined extra cost of nearly 42% for some models.
• The European Union's decision to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035 creates urgent pressure for South Africa's automotive industry to transition to EV production to protect its export market, as the EU is South Africa's largest export destination for private passenger vehicles.
• South Africa has a strategic opportunity to enter the lithium-ion cell manufacturing value chain due to its possession of the world's largest manganese reserves and access to other critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium within the sub-Saharan Africa region.
• Electric micro-mobility for last-mile delivery is identified as a short-to-medium term opportunity due to lower import duties and the ease of local assembly using completely knocked-down kits. A potential market of 270,000 vehicles valued at R15 billion is estimated if 10% of light delivery vehicles are electrified.
• Public charging infrastructure in South Africa is limited, with approximately 286 publicly accessible stations. This results in a ratio of one public charging station for every 4.76 private passenger EVs sold to date.
• The South African government's Green Transport Strategy (2018) aims to reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions by 5% by 2050, which is driving procurement policies favorable to EVs, particularly in the Western Cape and City of Cape Town.
• The automotive industry is a critical part of the South African economy, contributing 4.3% to the GDP and accounting for approximately 17.3% of the country's manufacturing output in 2021.

APA

Reddy, P., & Radmore, J. (2023). 2023 ELECTRIC VEHICLES MARKET INTELLIGENCE REPORT. GreenCape. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ELECTRIC_VEHICLES_MIR_2023_FINAL-DIGITAL_SINGLES.pdf

Chicago

Reddy, Prian, and Jack Radmore. 2023 ELECTRIC VEHICLES MARKET INTELLIGENCE REPORT. GreenCape, 2023. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ELECTRIC_VEHICLES_MIR_2023_FINAL-DIGITAL_SINGLES.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Reddy |first1=Prian |last2=Radmore |first2=Jack |title=2023 ELECTRIC VEHICLES MARKET INTELLIGENCE REPORT |publisher=GreenCape |date=2023 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ELECTRIC_VEHICLES_MIR_2023_FINAL-DIGITAL_SINGLES.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{reddy20232023, author = {Reddy, Prian and Radmore, Jack}, title = {{2023 ELECTRIC VEHICLES MARKET INTELLIGENCE REPORT}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2023}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ELECTRIC_VEHICLES_MIR_2023_FINAL-DIGITAL_SINGLES.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }