South Africa needs to start building EVs locally to keep up with the rest of the world, or risk being left behind when the UK and EU ban the import of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, the country’s largest export markets.

The bans will come into effect in 2030 (UK) and 2035 (EU), but exports have already contracted by nearly half from R837 million in 2021 to R421 million in 2022, according to Neale Hill, head of both the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) and Ford Africa.