Africa’s readiness for electric vehicles towards 2025
- Authors: Ghansar, Grant John
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Electric vehicles -- Economic aspects , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa Economic development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42152 , vital:36630
- Description: Disruption is an ongoing process. Nearly every industry has experienced some form of disruption, and these disruptions bring about a changing of the guard. At the turn of the twentieth century, the automobile of that era was considered to be a toy for the rich. Henry Ford, however, had a vision that changed this equation. He saw the automobile as a way to displace the horse and increase the ability to transport people over larger distances. Vehicles eventually became more affordable to the average person. The global automotive industry is currently ripe for disruption. An understanding and appreciation of Africa’s readiness for the future of electric vehicles will be off significant value to various stakeholders throughout Africa. This research will identify and describe current drivers that should be appreciated for the government, business communities, academic institutions, automotive manufacturer’s policy makers, and society at large to make intelligent decisions about Africa’s readiness for electric vehicles towards 2025 and beyond. This study was aimed at identifying possible futures of Africa’s readiness for electric vehicles towards 2025. Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) and the Six Pillars of Futures were utilised as the preferred methodologies to respond to the research objectives of this study. A detailed literature study was undertaken to evaluate the existing body of knowledge on the research topic. The literature study revealed that several factors need to be addressed, and that there is a robust requirement for a fundamental shift in the ways and methods of planning the future of the automotive industry in Africa and its readiness for the electric vehicle industry towards 2025. Most major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) have already committed to changing their products and fleets to alternative mobility in the near future. As vehicles move toward EVs and self-driving, the future becomes more uncertain; thus, the focus on urban transport and clean mobility is pertinent in Africa due to its anticipated rapid increase in urban share, resulting in a mobility revolution in the coming years. Electric vehicles are therefore imminent, and with Africa being a developing continent, it is imperative that the individual countries are proactive in embracing the new disruption, and in doing so, become the front runners for the future transportation method.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Electric cars: their carbon implications and adoption in South Africa
- Authors: Moeletsi, Mokhele Edmond
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Electric vehicles -- Economic aspects , Electric vehicles -- South Africa Power resources -- South Africa Sustainable development -- South Africa Energy policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41886 , vital:36606
- Description: Climate change is a reality that is starting to have an impact on society through decreased agricultural production and increased extreme weather events, resulting to worldwide disasters. It is caused by human activities that release greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. One of the key areas of concern is the mobility sector which accounts for around 20% of the total energy use, with a GHG footprint of close to 14% of the global emissions. International organisations are concerned about the elevating GHG emissions resulting from the increasing internal combustion engine vehicles, leading to the recent wave in electrifying the vehicles which presents many of advantages as well as major constraints. This study used the quantitative research approach to investigate the possible benefits of electric vehicles to our environment in the future. The projections of vehicle population size were estimated using three cases, and the electric vehicle penetration into the market by 2030 was investigated with four different scenarios. Further research was done to investigate the possible barriers present in the South African market that impede the adoption of electric vehicles. The results showed that the projection of the business-as-usual case, coupled with mitigation scenarios, present a better option for mitigation. The worst case of exponential increases in vehicle population does not present any GHG emissions moderation hope for any of the mitigation scenarios used in the study. The other case shows high mitigation potential, but it leads to a case of economic decline where the numbers of vehicles are decreasing with time. The findings of the study on barriers to adoption of electric vehicles in the market highlighted the high purchase price, high battery price and high likelihood for owning a secondary vehicle based on the current circumstances, as the main barriers that the respondents in the Gauteng Province found to be unattractive. But generally the willingness to buy electric vehicles was high for the majority of the factors that were presented. With these perceived positive opinions by the respondents, it is down to government and private companies to provide an environment conducive to changed opinions conducive for the consumers. This relates to advancing the technology and providing policy support for the accelerated adoption of electric vehicles.
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- Date Issued: 2019