Could Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicles be the Future of Automotive Growth in South Africa?
The South African (SA) government is looking to provide a framework for major changes to its automotive industry industrial policy by providing further incentives and support to entice investments of New Energy Vehicle (NEV) technologies, and not only for electric vehicles (EVs)
With BMW and Toyota announcing only days ago, they are looking to expanded their long-standing partnership to focus on the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology, this could be an opportune time for SA to look at engaging with the two automotive companies, already with substantial manufacturing investment in SA to bring further new automotive tech into Africa in a serious way.
The Toyota / BMW collaboration, began in 2011, and is now focused around developing a third-generation fuel cell system. This system will power vehicles from both brands, with a target of having the first release of its first mass-produced hydrogen-powered car by 2028.
Planned Hydrogen Production and Distribution Network in South Africa Key
An additional factor making this a very real possibility for Southern Africa is the massive Hydrogen production planned for the country.
According to the Hydrogen Society Roadmap (HSRM), the aim is to produce 500,000 tonnes per annum of green hydrogen by 2030.
The South African government aims to deploy 10 GW of electrolysis capacity in the Northern Cape region by 2030 and 15 GW by 2040. According to a report by National Business Initiative, South Africa could produce green hydrogen for $1.60 per kg by 2030, one of the lowest costs worldwide.
A key part of the collaboration is the development of hydrogen infrastructure. BMW and Toyota state that they recognize the need to create a sustainable hydrogen supply network, working closely with hydrogen producers, distribution channels, and refuelling stations.
This effort is aligned perfectly with the planned hydrogen development program that the SA government and private industry have planned to undertake in the region. This type of collaboration is essential for driving down costs and ensuring the widespread adoption of hydrogen as an alternative energy source.
In addition to the obvious investment and green energy technology developments, the prospect of having a new energy capacity that is likely to develop more rapidly than electric vehicles in Africa is appealing.
The Hydrogen developments alone are estimated to have the potential for developing 22 000 new jobs in the economy, while should the country needs to adopt to ever growing new vehicle adoption globally, that over time is likely to adversely affect the large fossil fuel automotive manufacturing industry that is currently established.
Additional Incentives for New Developments Expected
In a welcome announcement last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the SA Auto Week conference in Cape Town that consideration must be given to incentives for manufacturers as well as tax rebates or subsidies for consumers to accelerate the uptake of EVs as well as hybrid vehicles.
The opportunity for further developments in the Automotive industry is vast, and the timing for such developments, appears to be creating a perfect scenario that hopefully will lead to numerous new vehicle manufacturing coming to the African continent.
