Takealot and Woolworths have secret electric weapons

While electric vehicle (EV) adoption among major businesses in South Africa is lagging behind that of many other countries, several major retailers have embraced the technology in their fleets in recent years.

These vehicles not only help the companies reduce their carbon footprint but also reduce operating costs as EVs are cheaper to run and maintain than petrol or diesel models.

Online retailer Takealot was among the first big local businesses to test EVs in its delivery fleet.

In partnership with Aeversa, Avis, and JAC Motors, it began testing with a single 3-tonne JAC N55 EV truck in late 2021.

A year later, it had deployed 11 4-tonne JAC N75 EV trucks in its fleet — seven in Johannesburg and four in Cape Town.

The large trucks can cover 140km to 150km round trips with Aeversa’s dynamic load management and driver training programmes, resulting in a 39% reduction in overall energy consumption per kilometre.

The fleet achieved a total-cost-of-ownership reduction of 12.75% compared to the diesel-powered trucks in the first five months of 2024.

Woolworths also partnered with DSV and Everlectric in 2022 to test the viability of a commercial EV fleet before officially adopting 42 fully-electric SAIC Maxus panel vans for its online delivery service in May 2023.

The vans can cover up to 300km on a single charge, more than enough to support the average of 150km to 220km that Woolies online delivery vehicles cover.

Woolworths recently said the fleet saved about 400,000kg in carbon emissions in a year. It previously announced plans to have 70% of its fleet fully-electric in the near future.

The vehicles come with advanced telematics devices from Everlectric, which allows for remotely limiting power and speed.

Everlectric also provides the charging infrastructure, coupled with renewable power, to further reduce the environmental impact of running its vehicles.

In a recent interview with the SolarButterfly team, Maxus South African and Everlectric chief commercial officer Paul Plummer explained it effectively provided EVs-as-a-service.

The company started with five vehicles in 2021 and had expanded to more than 80 by 2024.

Its other major customers are Clicks and United Pharmaceutical Distributors (UPD), which have deployed 42 Maxus pharma-compliant panel vans with solar-powered refrigeration in a combined fleet.

Plummer said Everlectric would “shortly” have 200 EVs under its management.

“We’ve completed over 6.5 million kilometres to date. Every day we complete 10,000km to 20,000km more with our clients,” Plummer said.

“We’ve had zero downtime, we’ve had zero vehicles run out of range.”

FedEx is also using at least 10 of Everlectric’s vehicles.

There are likely dozens more EVs used in commercial fleets in South Africa — including a locally-developed and manufactured electric tricycle called the MellowVan.

Stellenbosch-based MellowVans is leasing its motorcycle replacements to major companies, including DHL, DPD Laser, Takealot, Spar, SkyNet, and Pick n Pay.

The company recently started exporting MellowVans to Europe, where the vehicles have been trialled by DHL and Dockr.

It is the first South African automaker to have a vehicle declared road-legal in Europe and the United Kingdom.

It is also the first road-legal electric tricycle in Europe.