LETTER: Get off the ox wagon
Producing more petrol-engined cars is a foolish move
New Zealand aims to phase out sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in favour of electric vehicles by 2030. Some 58% of cars on Norwegian roads are already electric or hybrid. Many other countries are speeding in the same direction. Meanwhile, here in SA we applaud Nissan’s pre-election plans to spend R4bn to expand its Pretoria factory to produce yet more internal combustion engine vehicles, for which there will be no export market before too long. Of course, for electric vehicles to make sense from a combined economic, environmental and health point of view, low-cost, renewable energy is essential for charging the batteries. And if all our vehicles were electric, we would no longer need to spend billions on crude oil imports every year, to say nothing of investing in Sudanese oil fields.
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