VOLKSWAGEN SWITCHED ON TO ELECTRIC CARS FOR SA

VOLKSWAGEN planned to sell electric vehicles in South Africa this year, it said in a statement yesterday. It will join the growing ranks of other electric vehicles in the country, which include the Audi e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQC, Jaguar I-Pace, BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf. The car company said it had launched an e-Golf pilot project as its first step in South Africa, which would see six fully electric vehicles being tested by media, selected dealers as well as Volkswagen employees to gain consumer insights into driving and living with an electric vehicle in South Africa. The e-Golf pilot project included charging infrastructure installed in Volkswagen’s Uitenhage manufacturing plant as well as the Dealer Training Academy in Centurion, Gauteng. Volkswagen said the e-Golf pilot project was the first step of a three-phase approach, which would pave the way for Volkswagen to include electric vehicles in its future product portfolio in South Africa. The second phase would include a fleet of fully electric Volkswagen ID.3 vehicles from 2021. The third and last phase of the electric mobility project would see the first fully electric VW vehicles available for sale to customers in South Africa from 2022. “The e-Golf as well as the ID.3 will not be available for sale in South Africa and will be used solely for the purposes of ensuring as many South Africans as possible get to experience life with an electric vehicle,” it said.