In what can only be described as a monumentally flawed and infinitely stupid idea, government has recently put its weight behind electric cars, announcing an incentive for local manufacturers that will successfully design an electric powered vehicle and put it into mass production.

The announcement was recently made by trade and industry minister Rob Davies, who said the incentives would be given to local car manufacturers under a scheme called the Electronic Vehicle Industry Road Map.

On the surface this plan might seem like a sensible step towards cleaner and more efficient personal transport, yet upon closer inspection one can’t help but notice that it is no more substantial than a fart in the wind.

“As we become increasingly globally conscious, we realise the challenges of climate change and the impact the motoring industry has on our carbon footprint,” Davies stated when announcing the plan.

Well, perhaps there are a few more things you should become conscious of, minister Davies, before you go off half-cocked and waste piles of taxpayers’ money.

Firstly, you should know the world has largely given up on the electric car as the next revolutionary step in personal transport. That is not to say that there won’t eventually be an alternative to internal combustion engines, but electric cars just aren’t it.

Reports to this effect have been coming out of various countries for some months now, with the biggest barrier to entry for electric cars being the cost of building support infrastructure and electricity generation. And we are talking here about First World countries that actually can produce electricity.

Another issue is that the generally ugly, slow and inefficient electric car has not been warmly embraced by motorists the world over – and I just can’t imagine why! A recent news report out of Germany confirms that the nanny state is struggling to achieve its goal of having a million electric vehicles on its roads by 2020. Currently, it has about 7 000.

Secondly, you may or may not know, minister Davies, that South Africa did develop its own electric car. It was called the Joule and was produced by a Cape Town-based company, called Optimal Energy. Funded in large part by various state agencies, the Joule debuted at the 2008 Paris Motor Show and was poised to go into mass production, when failure to secure a major industry partner led to the company’s collapse, just about a year ago.

What a complete waste of time and money. Perhaps had Davies woken up back then and offered the electric car incentive, a local manufacturer would have come on board; but alas! As such, Davies’ harebrained scheme to reinvent the Joule is as unplugged from reality as the global adoption electric cars seems to be.

Happy reading!

Martin Czernowalow