South Africa must adapt and build electric vehicles

[LaraC]

Well, then it's not got much to do with this article? Surely any decision on what cars they build here for export is dictated by VAG's global requirements, not the local puny souf effrican ones?

It has everything to with the article. Exports account for the bulk of vehicles produced in South Africa.

Anyway, my comment was in response to how will we charge our electric vehicles.

 

[pinball wizard]

It has everything to with the article. Exports account for the bulk of vehicles produced in South Africa.

Well, then, the authors of the article need to go to Germany and tell VAG et al.

 

[LaraC]

Well, then, the authors of the article need to go to Germany and tell VAG et al.

Our Governments' policies will make it a hard sale. If risk outweigh the opportunity for profit our manufacturing plants will not be converted.

 

[pinball wizard]

Our Governments' policies will make it a hard sale. If risk outweigh the opportunity for profit our manufacturing plants will not be converted.

The anc is like the opposite of king midas. Everything they touch turns to ****.

 

[itareanlnotani]

If there is no electricity, how will you charge it? Driving around with a petrol generator kind of defies the object of having an electric car...

You do know that cars don't need charging daily, right?

You can go a few weeks without charging (dependent on battery size).
Once a week, or once a month would be fine.

May as well argue - well, what happens if the power goes out, how can I get my petrol? Having to driving around with a xxKW battery defeats the purpose of having a petrol tank.

 

[S3XY]

I know we have Eskom and a badly run government, but this might be our only solution to load shedding. Vehicle to Grid technology already works but is not practical in most places as they have minor power cuts. If we use the batteries in our cars to power our homes when power goes out we have solved a massive part of the load shedding problem.
lets say a normal home uses 10kWh per day then a 80 kWh car battery would get you through a few days. Also, we only need power when we are home. And when we are home we have our cars with us. Perfect match.

 

[rustypup]

this might be our only solution to load shedding.

Whut?

You do realise that batteries don't generate energy, right?

 

[S3XY]

Whut?

You do realise that batteries don't generate energy, right?

Our problem is not only the generation, but peak demand. Almost no one uses electricity between 00:00 and 05:00 and if we time our cars to get charged at those times then then we should have enough capacity to meet that. Additionally, EVs become an eco system. The moment you buy an EV you start thinking about Solar Panels and backup power. A whole lot of people will choose to install solar to get even more out of their EVs.
Do you have batteries installed now at your home and are they working? I have backup power that is fully charged 99% of the time and the moment load shedding starts it gets used. Same thing will happen with car batteries. It will be 80-90% most of the time and when peak supply is not met then you will use 10-20% of it.

 

[rustypup]

Our problem is not only the generation

Sorry, no.

You need to dig a little further into conversion.

Our problem is generation. Batteries are a short-term solve to a far larger problem. The energy doesn't appear there by magic and carries its own costs.

The problem is the ANC

 

[Magnum]

What happened to this car?

Cost overruns. There still a few running last time I talked to one of the top management.

 

[S3XY]

Sorry, no.

You need to dig a little further into conversion.

Our problem is generation. Batteries are a short-term solve to a far larger problem. The energy doesn't appear there by magic and carries its own costs.

The problem is the ANC

I’ve worked as a consultant on most Eskom power generation sites, including Medupi and Kusile in the past two years helping to fix the design errors.
I know that there is a generation issue, but peak demand is where we will be able to make the quickest progress. If we smooth out the power demand side then we basically solved rolling blackouts.

Eskom Data Portal

The Eskom Data Portal provides you with up to date insights into our operational performance. Data sets include generation performance, demand history and forecasts, OCGT usage and renewable energy contributions.

www.eskom.co.za

Have a look at the hourly demand vs supply. Lowering demand when we all get home by using our EV backups and then slowly charging them back up before 05:00 the next morning.

Above and beyond this, if we don’t have to activate 6 out of 6 units every single day then the Contractors and Engineers will actually have an opportunity to repair the Engineering mistakes that were made. We just need to keep 1 unit offline for at least a month to get it to perform more reliably.

Ps: this is ignorning Eskom Debt and cash flow problems. That is a ANC failure which might never get fixed.

 

[Creag]

Volkswagen SA build more vehicles for export than the local market.

Completely agree. The export market will be far greater than local demand until Eskom gets their A into G or private electricity generation supplies what we need for local demand.

 

[rustypup]

including Medupi and Kusile in the past two years helping to fix the design errors.

So.. .converted them to nuclear at any point?

Because coal's 30% conversion and ridiculous maintenance requirement is not our friend.

 

[KleinBoontjie]

They see people making money with crypto, they want to be part of the money. They see people making money with EV's, they want to be part of the money making. Jirre, bunch of mentally challenged.

 

[Creag]

This can happen locally. I just do not see local demand being sufficient alone to drive local manufacturers to supply units. Export is where their main focus should be. Export generates much needed foreign revenue.

I know Escum is a dog and their generation for SA is putrid. But perhaps if private power generators are allowed into the mix and there is sufficient charging stations, this might become a real thing. There is always hope.

 

[grok]

This can happen locally. I just do not see local demand being sufficient alone to drive local manufacturers to supply units. Export is where their main focus should be. Export generates much needed foreign revenue.

I know Escum is a dog and their generation for SA is putrid. But perhaps if private power generators are allowed into the mix and there is sufficient charging stations, this might become a real thing. There is always hope.

No there isn't, the hope curve is trending the wrong way if you haven't noticed. Probably not too long to go until we reach rock bottom but even then there's zero guarantee of a turnround with this government still in charge.

I may eat my words after SONA but unless god decides to return until now and then, the chances are very very slim.

 

[S3XY]

So.. .converted them to nuclear at any point?

Because coal's 30% conversion and ridiculous maintenance requirement is not our friend.

Absolutely agree. It is a bit better than 30% but coal should be on its way out. It is not, but it should be.

Wind, solar and battery is the answer. A bit of hydro/nuclear can help but the cost and simplicity of WSB is now ideal for full scale implementation.

 

[Herr der Verboten]

If there is no electricity, how will you charge it? Driving around with a petrol generator kind of defies the object of having an electric car...

Ask the "expert"/OP?

You can't make **** up like this as to catering for mental deficiency.

 

[Herr der Verboten]

Imagine that, a South African born person building electric cars.

Rather imagine the payrolled voters burning it. You got to be africa realistic about it.

 

[rvZA]

Uhhh okay... strange article. And keep it charged cost-effectively and reliably with what?