South Africa’s Freight Future Must Go Electric
There’s something oddly poetic about a diesel truck thundering past you at 3 a.m.—until you’re the one trying to sleep in a roadside guesthouse, rattling in sync with every gear change. For decades, we’ve shrugged at the fumes, the growl, and the bone-shaking rumble as the price of keeping shelves stocked.
But imagine a highway that hums instead of howls, where the loudest sound from a 40-ton rig is the driver’s playlist bleeding through the cab. That’s the future electric trucks promise: cleaner skies, quieter nights, and freight that doesn’t sound like a thunderstorm every time it does its job. Honestly, who wouldn’t trade their morning coffee with smog for one with fresh air?
The case for electric trucks is less romantic than brutally practical.
Heavy-duty trucks make up less than 10% of vehicles on the road but spew more than a third of global road transport CO₂ emissions. In South Africa, where carbon budgets will soon be enforced under the Climate Change Act, sticking with diesel is both dirty and dangerous for business. Exporters will be punished by carbon border taxes, while local hauliers will be fined for blowing their emissions caps.
Yes, it’s saving the planet, but what matters to the company balance sheets, is that it’s saving money. Diesel already eats hauliers alive at over R6 per kilometre. A battery-electric truck charged with solar costs a fraction of that—under R2 in some scenarios. At scale, those savings flip freight economics on their head.
The usual retort? “But charging takes too long.”
Except it doesn’t. In China, quick battery swapping in trucks is quickly becoming a popular solution to save time and ensure quick and efficient delivery of goods. SANY is one of the brands who have introduced a truck swapping system that can swap a truck battery in just 5 minutes. This was inspired by the development of swapping stations developed by brands such as Nio for electric passenger vehicles. The model works, it scales, and it doesn’t overload fragile grids when paired with solar and storage.
Volvo already has EV trucks on South African roads. The technology works here. What’s missing is the courage – and the urgency – to scale it. Other countries have leapt ahead: Germany is building megawatt charging corridors; Norway already has 12% of its truck market electric; China sold 80,000 units in one year. Meanwhile, South Africa risks being left idling in the breakdown lane, clinging to diesel while the rest of the world overtakes.
The future isn’t optional. It’s either get behind the wheel of an electric truck and reap the rewards, or get dragged into compliance while competitors race ahead. And when you break it down, the choice is really as simple as this: thunder, fumes, and endless fuel bills—or silence, savings, and a shot at a cleaner, competitive freight industry.
Larissa Venter is the CEO of Zero Carbon Charge Holdings. She is driven by the opportunities that the future of new energy, green mobility and tech can create to empower South Africa’s potential to be a global leader in Climate Change.