The City of Cape Town is gearing up to roll out the Western Cape’s largest electric vehicle (EV) project – an R8.5 billion expansion of the MyCiti bus system.
Also read: Cape Town successfully pilots electric vehicles for traffic services fleet
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced this during Africa’s Green Economy Summit, held from 21 to 23 February at the Century City Conference Centre.
The project will be expanded to the metro southeast, which includes Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
‘What’s really cool about it is that it will be completely electric. All of the buses on that route will be e-buses and that’s an important shift for the city,’ Hill-Lewis said.
As reported by the Daily Maverick, the project forms part of the City’s Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan 2023 – 2027, which also comprises the Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS) electric bus projects and the Flex EV electric taxi project. GABS already has a 1 100-strong fleet of buses and plans to replace those with electric buses, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 67 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Flex EV, a start-up company focused on the electrification of the taxi industry, plans to roll out two pilot projects in Stellenbosch and Century City and launch about 80 e-MBTs and two charging facilities over the next two years, Hill-Lewis added.
He revealed these plans the same week that the National Government officially announced that it would introduce an allowance for new investments in EV production in South Africa.
This plan will enable producers to claim 150% of qualifying investment spending on electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles during the first year.
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