On the 2nd of December Pupkewitz Haval launched a new electric vehicle (EV) the Ora O3. With its 300km range and fast charging capabilities it is a wonderful addition to the lineup of EVs available in Namibia.
There are currently a handful of EVs available in Namibia, that being the Nissan Leaf, the Ora O3, the Mercedes EQA/EQB and the BMW iX. The table below lists all (known) EVs available in Namibia as well as their range and cost.
One of the biggest questions you may have when considering an EV is if it has enough range per charge. The average Windhoek commuter drives approximately 12 500km per year or 40km a day. All the EVs listed can easily complete the 40km commute without needing to charge during the day.
There are however demographics of people who drive a lot more than 40km a day, such as parents that has to drive their kids around and go to work. For them a vehicle that has a higher range 100km+ would work allot better.
With the lack of rapid chargers in Namibia EVs are currently best for town driving or as a vehicle to hop between towns if you don’t work in your hometown.
Higher ranged vehicles such as the Ora can do return trips between Windhoek and Okahandja or Windhoek and Rehoboth without charging. This makes higher ranged cars ideal for people that has to hop towns daily.
When comparing the Ora O3 to a comparable petrol vehicle such as the VW T-Roc, the driving cost of the Ora is N$0.38/km whilst the T-Roc is N$2.03/km, a saving of N$1.66/km. The Ora’s purchase price is however N$90 000 more than the T-Roc, but with a yearly saving of N$21 000 it only takes a bit over 4 years to break even.
One of the biggest advantages of EVs is their low cost of operation. Whilst a Corolla costs N$2.00/km an EV costs about N$0.40/km. This is N$1.60/km saving would reduce a Windhoek commuters transport cost by N$20 000 a year, not mentioning the savings for city hopers.
Recharging your car is a lot easier than most people imagine. When you get home in the afternoon you simply plug in your car and tomorrow morning it is full and ready for another day’s driving.
At home you add about 20km of range for every hour plugged in. If you need to charge your car faster, some vehicles support faster home charging where you install a charger which can add up to 45km of range per hour.
If you need to quickly top up your car during the day you can rapidly charge your car and add between 240km and 360km of range per hour depending on how fast the charger is. Rapid charging is not intended to be something you do daily (it can accelerate battery degradation), but only in the cases where you urgently need the extra range to make it through your day.
Electric vehicles are definitely not for everyone. People who only have a single car that has to be able to do long road trips will currently not be able to drive an EV.
For everyone else who as more than one car, where one of the cars doesn’t have to drive further than the next town it makes total sense to switch one of their cars to electric.
*Sybrand de Waal is a student at Stellenbosch University and an electric vehicle enthusiast. He has written the two studies that spurred the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) into writing their study and is actively involved in promoting EVs in Namibia. He can be contacted at sybrand2004@gmail.com
