start building its first car plant in South Africa this month, is considering expanding into the production of new-energy vehicles in the country.
In five years “it’s a high probability, but there’s no final decision”, he said in an interview on Thursday at an investment conference in Gqeberha.At the moment, neither EVs nor hydrogen vehicles are produced in South Africa. Government has only just put in place a framework for investment in local production of new-energy vehicles and there are still prohibitive duties on the import of EVs. In addition, the local network of charging stations has barely been developed.
South Africa should also look to make components for new-energy vehicles for export rather than shipping abroad minerals needed for the cars, he said. Whitfield gave the example of rare earths, which are produced in South Africa. They are used in magnets in electric vehicles, which are made extensively in China.The country, he said, should learn from its experience with exporting raw platinum for use in the manufacture of the pollution-curbing catalysts fitted to internal combustion engines.