Electric cars are a topic that is met with mixed reactions by many South Africans.
They are undeniably expensive and currently out of reach for the majority of local motorists, and their maximum range is another sticking point that is keeping many people on the fence.
Despite these concerns, I am personally looking forward to the day that electric vehicles (EVs) become the new norm, for a few key reasons.
Pollution
Starting with the obvious, EVs will drastically reduce the amount of air pollution in our cities.
Speaking as someone who has lived in Cape Town and Johannesburg, it’s rather concerning to see just how much air pollution we live with and breathe in every day, with a visible haze over the city on days with little wind.
Joburg in particular is rated as having only moderate air quality owing to the nearly five million cars on the road, which means that people living in Gauteng are actually expected to live for three fewer years than those in Cape Town as a direct result of air pollution.
Of course, vehicles are not the only pollutant here, as coal plants and frequent fires also have an impact on air quality, but switching to EVs would certainly make a considerable difference to the state of the local environment.
I’m sure we can all recall a time when we saw an old vehicle belch black smoke right in front of us and couldn’t help but inhale some of it, and the reality is that air pollution has severe health implications that can lead to respiratory illnesses like asthma, especially in children.
Switching to EVs would be a major step towards combating this pollution, and this is all before you consider the much larger implications of what the transition to zero-emissions transport would have on climate change as a whole.
Noise
Living in a big city has its pros and cons, and noise pollution has to be up there as one of the biggest detractors to staying in an urban area.
While I may be a petrolhead, I believe that there’s a time and place to hear the sound of an engine, and that time is not at 11pm on a weekday or early on a Sunday morning.
Even if you are not interested in owning an EV yourself, there’s a clear benefit to more widespread adoption from other road users, especially commercial ones.
Small delivery motorbikes in particular tend to produce a lot of noise and can be a frequent occurrence going up and down the street, and electrifying these bikes would be far more feasible than most other vehicles on the road, as they don’t require an enormous range, can charge quickly, and are much more affordable than electric cars.
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