EVs too much for Eskom

It is difficult to understand the enthusiasm with which senior people in the motor industry and others are promoting the idea of electric vehicles (EVs) (“SA must change attitude to electric cars”, December 6).

It is impossible to unpack all the problems with this technology within the limits of a short letter, but I will try to deal with the most obvious.

First, if all road vehicles (excluding heavy transport) were to convert from fossil fuels to electric power, there would be something like a 25%-30% increase in electricity consumption. And no, this will not all be only at off-peak hours.

Eskom cannot deliver the existing energy requirements. Even if it could, the grid is incapable of distributing this additional load without a serious and expensive upgrade. This problem is very real in Europe, where this sudden increase in grid energy could also not be accommodated.

Second, anyone who seriously considers using an electric car for any other use than short-range urban motoring should read the test article in the Business Day motoring section from a week ago. While it tried to put a positive spin on it, this report on driving an EV to Durban should convince anyone reading it that this is not a viable option.

But there is more. Batteries start to deteriorate from the time they are made — and under regular use they rapidly lose capacity. With a useful life of about two to three years, they then require replacement, at significant cost. In addition, with their unrecyclable and seriously ecologically unfriendly chemicals, they have to be somehow safely disposed of.

Better alternative green energies are readily available and already in worldwide use.

Ian N Fraser Tshwane