Successful South African electric vehicle maker that few people know about

South African firm MellowVans is seeing massive demand for its groundbreaking three-wheeled electric vehicle (EV), which aims to combine the best features of motorcycles with light vans for last-mile cargo transport and courier deliveries.

After its tremendous success in South Africa over the past decade, the MellowVan is poised to make big waves overseas.

The EV is the first vehicle from a South African automotive original equipment manufacturer to achieve European and British homologation, a long and costly process that makes a vehicle road legal in a particular jurisdiction.

Its first batch of EVs shipped to customers in Europe in September 2024 after undergoing trial tests in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Melowvan also won the award for Best Vehicle for Goods Logistics at the high-profile Paris Auto Show in October 2024.

Built in a factory in Stellenbosch using 70% local content, the EVs are commonly used by Takealot, DHL, SkyNet, and DPD Laser, as well as on-demand grocery deliveries for Spar2U and Woolies Dash.

In addition to South Africa, MellowVan has vehicles operating in Namibia and Botswana.

While MellowVans have become increasingly common on South African roads, they may have flown under the radar for many motorists and pedestrians due to one of their standout features—being easy to brand with the colours and logos of their customers.

The latest-generation MellowVans offer up to 130km of range on a single charge. Their moderately small batteries can be topped up using a conventional CCS to wall socket plug adapter.

Key to their appeal is a low running cost of just 15 cents per kilometre, significantly cheaper than using petrol-powered motorcycles or diesel-power light delivery vans.

Another reason many South Africans may not have noticed MellowVans is that Chinese EVs are also being used for e-commerce deliveries and goods transportation. Therefore, many South Africans may have assumed that the MellowVans were imported.

The big benefit of the three-wheelers is that they have space for up to 2,500 litres or 150kg of cargo, substantially bigger and heavier than a typical motorcycle box can carry.

That allows MellowVans’ drivers to complete more deliveries per drive, reducing order fulfilment costs significantly.

According to the company’s website, a MellowVan delivery with a driver is around R16.94, compared with the R32.36 it would cost to deliver the same amount of goods via two petrol-powered motorcycles.

MyBroadband’s own regular comparisons of costs to run passenger EVs have found similar cost savings, with all-electric cars costing around a third to half per kilometre in energy compared to the fuel costs of similar petrol models.

The vans also support active cooling for transporting perishable goods and temperature-sensitive medicine.

Under its current business model, the company only leases the vans on two or three-year agreements, which cover a full Internet of Things subscription for tracking deliveries, insurance, and maintenance.

In addition to its last-mile delivery offering, MellowVans has recently also partnered with Itemate to use the EVs as modern mobile SIM shops.

Itemate has built a custom point-of-sale platform to support signing up mobile network customers, completing RICA applications, and selling airtime.

The idea is that mobile network operators can lease and brand the vans to reach customers on the street instead of expecting them to come into stores.

MellowVans has explained it will also help telcos ensure they meet regulatory requirements for growingly stringent SIM card registrations, which sometimes make it difficult to sell and activate SIMs using an online-only process.

The approach is not entirely new. Cell C previously used tuk-tuks to sell SIM cards on the street.

However, it is the first time in South Africa that EVs are being used for this particular sales channel.

Below is a short video showing MellowVans in action during delivery runs.

From passengers to goods transport

MellowVans was founded by Neil du Preez in 2012, although it originally went by another name — MellowCabs.

The initial product was a light, all-electric public transport vehicle. In 2019, Du Preez and his team discovered that the product had greater potential in parcel deliveries and cargo transport.

The idea came after DHL’s managing director said the company would use the MellowCabs if they were converted into delivery vans.

The company was rebranded to MellowVans, with DHL as its first customer in South Africa.

To ensure the EV could meet homologation requirements in Europe, MellowVans redesigned it and started producing a new model in January 2022.

Du Preez told How we made it in Africa that demand for MellowVans has consistently outstripped supply and that the company was initially very limited when it came to production volumes.

It could not produce over 50,000 units per year to qualify for the South African Autotmotive Production and Development Plan incentive, so funding came from an angel investor, friends, and family.

The company later qualified for funding from the Industrial Development Corporation and closed several large funding rounds, with the most recent being from a consortium consisting of a major bank and family office.

The funding has enabled the company to increase its factory output significantly. Where it could previously only produce roughly one car per day, this increased to four a day by April 2023 and ten in August 2023.

The company’s first vans operating in Europe will be made at its South African factory.

However, it plans to open production facilities in its destination markets, with possible locations in the Netherlands, Hungary, or Egypt.