International Archives - Smarter Mobility Africa

24 February 2023

E-Prix technology development to advance electric vehicles

ESI Africa Africa, Battery Energy Storage, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, Features/Analysis, International, News, Non classé, Research and Development, Smart Mobility, Smart Technologies Africa's Green Economy Summit, Battery storage, Cape Town, Clean Technology, Electric Vehicles, smart mobility africa, South Africa

Written by: Theresa Smith

Developing new technologies for electric vehicles in the pits of Formula E is having a real-world impact trickling down to the EVs driven on streets worldwide.

Moderating a panel discussion on Formulate E change, accelerated – net zero vision for cities and urban racing at Africa’s Green Economic Summit, Dominic Wilhelm, Executive Director, United Leaders, United Cities, explained this technology transfer will, over the years, influence energy storage practices, smart grids, energy efficiency and e-mobility as a whole.

Saturday, 25 February, sees the first Formula E race in sub-Sahara Africa, with Cape Town probably providing the fastest race track for the e-mobility circuit this year.

Wilhelm was very keen to discuss Maserati’s return to racing for the first time in ten years with Giovanni Sgro, head of Maserati for Formula E. Maserati got back on the track in Mexico in January 2023 with the GT Folgore, the Trident’s first-ever electric vehicle.

“Not only are we back to racing, but it’s also our first race in Cape Town. Formula E was a natural choice; getting back to racing was something we were looking forward to for many years,” said Sgro. He reminded that Maserati’s first race win was in 1926. It seemed a natural fit to get into the first e-sport for electric vehicles as the luxury Italian brand aims to only produce electric vehicles by 2030.

“We’ve had racing in our blood for over 100 years, and to be back to racing in a great championship that is doing tremendous work, it’s fantastic. Also, to be going around the world to new cities,” said Sgro.

Have you listened?
Everything you need to know about Formula E in Cape Town

Setting up a circuit to race electric vehicles

Alberto Longo, Formula E co-founder, said it had been quite a journey. Working in the early noughties on creating Formula 1 sponsorship deals, Longo noticed companies expressing an interest in sponsoring motorsport if only it had a green angle.

By 2008 he and Formula E cofounder Alejandro Agag realised they needed to create a platform for the companies who wanted to get into motorsport, just not in the format it presented at the time.

“The world has changed completely since then,” marvelled Longo.

When they obtained FIA licensing in 2012, technology for racing EVs was not yet developed. Not only were there no formal teams, a single-seater, fully-electric racing car did not exist.

The first generation of cars was a far cry from the Gen3 cars, which will debut at the Cape Town E-Prix. Spark Gen3, or Gen3, is the successor to the SRT05e.

Back then, every driver had two cars at their disposal because they couldn’t finish a race with one – the range of the batteries simply wasn’t enough.

“In only four years, we have doubled the battery capacity, and now they manage to finish the race with one car,” said Longo.

Now it’s fast charging, technology for faster cars and “more sexy cars because that’s important for the championship to be attractive to fans.

“The reality is, 12 years ago, there were two key barriers to electric vehicles. First was the price and second was the range of the batteries.

“We’re not talking about range of batteries anymore; you can see 500 to 700km. Nine years ago, it was 60km. Price is still expensive, but governments are doing initiatives and incentives to transform e-mobility in countries. We are getting there way quicker than expected,” said Longo.

Have you read?
E-Fest ELECTRIC 2023

Driving technological progress

James Barclay, Formula E Team Principal for Jaguar, said the huge benefit that sport can play is driving human and technological progress through electric racing.

He pointed out that the power of world-class sports is that teams compete against the very best and push themselves beyond their limits. Thus technological advancements made on the E-Prix circuit will push EV development.

Barclay point to technology such as safety belts and traction control are technologies that trickled down from Formula 1 racing into regular sedans driven daily on roads around the world.

“Jaguar has a long history in the sport. We won Le Man as the first company to use disc brakes,” remembered Barclay.

Back in 1949, the racers used drum brakes, mostly hydraulically activated. Cars would lose braking efficiency when they got too hot. In 1953, Jaguar won Le Mans with their much simpler disc brakes system, which gradually became the norm for racing and eventually all cars.

Exploring technology

The Formula E Jaguar team is also exploring Wolfspeed’s silicon carbide semiconductors, which they started using in 2017. “Now, having proven the technology by winning races, last year Jaguar announced that all future cars would use this technology.

Have you read?
Ed’s note: Why semiconductors and the green economy fit hand in glove

“We pioneered second-life battery storage. We powered the garage in pre-testing at Valencia with a second-life battery at Valencia.

“That has applications for all over the world, and it’s a technology pioneered by Pramac, so the world of generators is moving into battery energy storage,” said Barclay.

Jaguar Land Rover has partnered with Pramac to develop a portable zero-emission energy storage unit powered by second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries. This Off Grid Battery Energy Storage System features lithium-ion batteries from the Jaguar I-PACE batteries from the prototypes and engineering test vehicles. The storage system can supply zero-emissions power where access to to the grid is limited or unavailable.

“Formula E is the first net zero sport in the world and one of the fastest growing,” reminded Wilhelm.

“The performance of the vehicles is extraordinary. Look at what Formula 1 has achieved in decades versus what Formula E has achieved in just a few years. There’s not much difference in performance,” Wilhelm said.

The Cape Town E-Prix will take place at the same time as the Cape Town E-Fest. ESI

Electric car electric vehicle charging business investment finance funding mobility

21 February 2023

Investment to accelerate adoption of green vehicles in emerging markets

ESI Africa Africa, Battery Energy Storage, BRICS, International, News, Non classé, Smart Mobility Battery storage, BRICS, carbon emissions, Electric Vehicles, emerging markets, IFC, India

IFC and ALD, a global vehicle leasing company and a subsidiary of Societe Generale, recently announced a partnership to reduce carbon emissions in transport by accelerating the adoption and penetration of green vehicles in emerging markets.

The $400 million IFC (International Finance Corporation) investment will help ALD grow its green fleet, a combination of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, in seven countries – Türkiye, Mexico, India, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.

The financing, which was intermediated by Societe Generale on behalf of ALD, is expected to add 15,000 green vehicles with the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 22,180 tons a year across the target countries by 2026.

Transport is the fastest-growing contributor to climate change, already accounting for 23% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions – 17% from road transport alone – a prime target for decarbonisation. The innovation and financing of green vehicles could cut millions of tons of carbon emissions produced by the transport sector in cities across the globe every year.

“The adoption of green vehicles is an important part of reducing carbon emissions in emerging markets,” said Makhtar Diop, IFC Managing Director. “Partnering with global players like Société Générale and ALD is an opportunity for IFC to scale financing for sustainable mobility and reflects our commitment to innovative financing models for climate solutions.”

Have you read?
Electric vehicles for a cleaner future

An important move for a low-carbon economy

Promoting e-mobility is one approach that IFC is focusing on to support the global transition to a low-carbon economy. This is the largest single investment IFC has made in support of green vehicles.

“As a leading global sustainable mobility provider, our role is to make the energy transition happen across the 44 countries where we operate,” said Tim Albertsen, CEO of ALD. “This financial partnership will further strengthen our sustainable mobility strategy in emerging markets where adoption of low-emission vehicles remains quite low and enable us to accelerate the transition to green vehicles to fight climate change on a global scale.”

Of interest to you
Is the renewables evolution a sign to locally manufacture EVs?

This partnership and investment are aimed at helping to execute ALD’s core strategy, Move 2025, and promote sustainable mobility in customer solutions with green vehicles, focusing on battery electric vehicles at the heart of its offering.

The investment builds on IFC’s early-stage market and project preparation (“upstream”) work. A 2021 assessment focused on Brazil, India, and Mexico concluded that targeted and affordable financing along the electric vehicle supply chain is key to unlocking their growth in emerging markets.

The topic of sustainable transportation will be discussed at Africa’s Green Economy Summit, taking place from 22-24 February 2023 at Century City in Cape Town, South Africa.

13 February 2023

Ed’s note: The electric vehicle market is thirsty for charging points

ESI Africa Africa, Business and markets, Energy Storage, Features/Analysis, Future Energy, International, Smart Mobility, Southern Africa charging infrastructure, Ed's Note, Electric Vehicles

Written by: Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl

You’re not about to buy a hydrogen-powered truck, but you might be in the market to purchase an electric vehicle (EV) in the next five years.

As the popularity of the electric vehicle market increases, so too will the demand for public charging points for these vehicles. In the UK, for example, the government has pledged to have 300,000 charging points by 2030.

The trick is to position them correctly.

Professor Henry Tse, Director of New Mobility Technologies at Connected Places Catapult in the UK, explains they are looking at the ideal balance between the use of home, on-street and destination charging points. “How could people be encouraged to use destination charging? So, we have been working with industry and academia to look at the situation in great depth.”

This research will add to the sustainable uptake of electric vehicles. However, African markets need to conduct similar studies to address unique circumstances.

While EV owners suffer from range anxiety (especially in countries where charging points remain few and far between), the time it takes to charge an electric vehicle is also a concern. It means downtime for a business.

Time is money. As such, lengthy charging times are especially detrimental to small businesses and passenger vehicle drivers (taxis, Uber-type entrepreneurs). The hour or hours taken to charge an EV is time out for the driver to earn money.

Could the solution be hydrogen?

I mentioned hydrogen-powered trucks above because this space’s progress could prove a future business opportunity.

Fahmida Smith, the principal for market development at Anglo American Platinum, explains: “With hydrogen, it takes you the same time as it would to fuel up with diesel, so it doesn’t impact your pocket.”

Last May, the mining company launched a hydrogen-powered ultra-haul mine truck, showing off a vehicle that makes no noise and emits no fossil fuel emissions. In addition, changing these ultra-haul mine trucks from diesel to hydrogen could represent an 80% reduction of onsite diesel emissions across the business.

While hydrogen-powered passenger vehicles are unlikely to feature soon, we are seeing a steady transition to cleaner mobility.

Testament to this smarter mobility future is Africa’s first consumer clean energy and electric event, E-Fest ELECTRIC. It takes place in Cape Town on 25 February and co-located at the Cape Town E-Prix ABB Formula E Championship E-Prix village. While adding to the excitement is Africa’s Green Economy Summit from 22–24 February.

Formula One pit stops are the epitome of teamwork, and people have written reams about how what they do translates to lessons all businesses could stand to learn. It will be interesting to see what lessons from the E-Prix will eventually trickle down to how we charge and drive our future EVs.

Till then, let’s get moving sustainably.

battery energy storage li-ion lithium mining electric vehicles zero emissions transport mining

7 February 2023

Will Africa grab the opportunity to cultivate a local battery value chain?

Anazi Zote Africa, Battery Energy Storage, Business and markets, Energy Storage, Finance and Policy, Future Energy, International, News, Smart Mobility, Southern Africa battery charging, Battery storage, Electric Vehicles, Lithium, lithium-ion batteries, Mining Indaba

Written by: Nasi Hako

Is Africa going to miss the industrial development opportunity to cultivate a battery energy storage hub? This was a question posed by TP Nchocho, CEO of the Industrial Development Corporation, during a Mining Indaba session on the path to zero-emissions mining through battery electric vehicles.

On the first day of the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, hosted at the CTICC in Cape Town, three panellists sat down to expand on the future of zero-emissions mining for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Africa and the role of critical minerals in the path to a just energy transition.

Nchocho began by highlighting the massive opportunity for industrialisation that sits before Africa as the world moves towards a greener, circular economy. Roland Chavasse, the Secretary General of the International Lithium Association, echoed this sentiment, saying that “Africa, and indeed the world, is bursting with lithium resources” and that the time has come to capitalise on what is a “once-in-a-lifetime pivot” toward zero emissions development.

Time to prioritise local value addition

Given that Africa has vast lithium resources and the demand for battery electric vehicles is growing, panellists agreed that African political and economic leaders need to collaborate to create a Lithium hub in Africa on an integrated basis.

Chavasse expressed that he believes in cooperation, collaboration and conversation as essential driving factors in doing so. Chavasse even suggested that Africa look to Australia for inspiration, as the country exports half of the world’s lithium resources to China, but is now looking at ways to manufacture the minerals locally and cultivate jobs while decreasing export expenses and carbon emissions.

Echoing this sentiment, Nchocho said that Africa should optimise local businesses in its supply chain and partly credited the underdevelopment of African countries to a lack of local value addition in African supply chains. He said that African countries such as South Africa need to shift their mentality and pursue progressive development through large-scale industrialisation in an equitable way.

Battery value chain in Africa

The discussion also reflected on the importance of making mining for green minerals a green process so as to cultivate a lithium future that is circular and sustainable. Panellists agreed this could be done by creating a thorough plan on how to decarbonise the mining process, from mining minerals to recycling batteries.

For this to be achieved, David Sturmes, the Director of Corporate Engagement and Strategic partnerships for the Fair Cobalt Alliance, said that access to finance will be pivotal and that investment and consistent government intervention could help Africa unlock a local supply chain.

Reflecting on past mistakes, the panellists agreed that the just energy transition should prioritise the just element of the transition and genuinely and equitably invest in citizens’ quality of life across the board.