Tough market conditions, a sluggish economy and prevailing attitudes about the pragmatism and affordability of conventional fuel trucks are holding back anticipated sales figures for net-zero-emission units in South Africa’s road freight sector.
According to Olaf Petersen, sales and marketing vice president for Daimler Truck Southern Africa (DTSA), the number of e-mobility units the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is moving is well below initial targets.
“It’s not taking off at all,” he said at the start of a truck-experience week on September 8.
Talking to Freight News while technical analysts of DTSA were taking some of the OEM’s trucks through their paces at Gerotek Test Facilities in Pretoria West, Petersen lamented the slow uptake of green-emission trucks.
“We knew the sale of alternative fuel-cell units in the Southern African market would take time but it’s below what we initially thought the case would be. In fact, it’s not really happening.”
DTSA’s chief executive and president, Maretha Gerber, confirmed that decarbonisation of the local industry was lagging global standards.
She said although this was to be expected, there was concern that South Africa was losing momentum as a regional leader for emission intensity factor (EIF) metrics.
Currently, the local industry allows for ‘Euro 2’ emission standard trucks, as regulated by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).
It means heavy-duty vehicles in South Africa meet an older emissions benchmark from Europe. The International Council on Clean Transportation has cautioned that Euro 2 is a significantly outdated standard – as much as 15 years – compared with current global practices.
In comparison, the European Union has progressed well beyond Euro 2. Most new trucks in the EU comply with Euro 6 or stricter standards, and there are active regulatory moves aiming to reduce heavy-duty truck CO₂ emissions by 15% by 2025 and 30% by 2030, relative to 2019 levels.
Gerber said she had written to government about the necessity of complying with a 2027 deadline whereby the local industry was supposed to be on board with cleaner fuel technologies.
She said the Automotive Business Council (naamsa) had written to the DTIC, as well as the Department of Transport, and Energy, “to emphasise that we cannot prolong this any further”.
“As an industry, we have to progress because it is limiting us to bring higher quality vehicles and better technology to the market. As an OEM, I cannot bring Euro 5, 6 and 7 products to the market if (carbon) emissions are still too high.”
Because of government not progressing with legislation, DTSA could not bring all its EIF options to the local industry, said Gerber.
As a supplier for buyers across the sub-Saharan market, including the Copperbelt in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 70% of the world’s cobalt for green-tech innovation was mined, it was important for South Africa to lead the regional way, she said.
Globally, the overall picture was one of adoption, however slow in certain markets, Gerber added.
“Yes, the curve of uptake is slower and flatter than what was previously expected, but we are seeing an uptick on e-truck applications in certain markets.
“In South Africa we simply must transform. We’ll be left behind if we don’t.”
- The ‘Daimler Truck Experience – For All Who Keep Africa Moving’, runs until the end of the week, September 12.
