This week’s news you need to know (May 2021, week 3)
In this week's news you need to know: Lambo begrudgingly plans an EV future, BMW may mess with the proven 2 Series recipe and has pooled options from its parts bin to deliver the X3 Mzansi Edition, while the South African government is finally mulling a strategy to make the country ready to produce EVs.
Lamborghini must go full EV… or suffer the fate of the T-rex
For a while, all we heard about was OEMs announcing their plans to "go electric". One OEM has lurked in the shadows, but let's face it, it's now or never. Might it be too late for VW Group vanity brand Lamborghini? There has been speculation about the Italian marque's sustainability; I guess Stephan Winkelmann has to grab the bull by the horns to get the brand in shape for an EV future.
Read more: Lamborghini Joins Electric Party
The Sián hybrid (technically an Aventador SVJ with an electric motor strapped to the front) might have been the first attempt, but this time we’re talking about a battery-electric Lamborghini, which is quite a quantum leap for a brand whose major drawcards have been the maniacal wails emitted by V10 or V12 engines. Will current Aventador and Huracan owners be trading in their cars in 5 years? I doubt it.
BMW 2 Series tease – Keeping the legacy going
Of late, the revered Bavarian brand has been toying with the emotions of its fans. Let me just remind you of the tall kidney-grille debate (you remember that, don’t you?) and transforming the 1 Series into a front-wheel-drive runabout. Purists were aghast! Now there are murmurs BMW will soon be at it again. Altering DNA is usually considered sacrilege, but BMW seems to believe that it is quite necessary.
Read more: New BMW 2 Series Teased
If you consider the ways in which BMW's M cars have evolved, not everything about them has progressed… All the models now accelerate faster and corner with greater alacrity than before, but at what cost? The contemporary M5 is so crammed with tech, it's become less of a driver’s car and there are dissenting voices that say the same about the new M3 and M4; they're astonishingly fast, but what's happened to the raw driver engagement that made the early generations of the brand's iconic sportscars so visceral – if somewhat demanding or challenging – to drive at the limit (and beyond)?
In the meantime, the M2 and its derivatives were delights; they seemed infused with BMW's original driver's car DNA and were fun-to-drive, rear-wheel-drive machines that enhanced the connection between man, machine and terra firma. They made performance-car aficionados see a glimmer of hope in BMW’s future, which is why every available unit of the M2 CS was so eagerly snapped up.
BMW would be silly not to push “ctrl copy and ctrl paste” on that plan with the next 2 Series Coupe. Please, BMW, don't overcook this one.
BMW X3 Mzansi Edition – Is local lekker?
BMW SA is renowned for producing one-off localised variants unique to the local market. Perhaps the firm peaked with the E30 333i and 325iS 30 years ago, because its recent attempts have fallen rather shy of those boxy ol' Bimmers. Extending the product lifecycle of a model (a pre-facelift X3) to squeeze out an extra bit of profit is quite different to offering consumers a truly unique derivative or variant.
Read more: BMW X3 Mzansi Edition (2021) Specs and Price
The recent 330is Edition was not much more than a generously specified G20-generation 330i and now the X3 Mzansi Edition has arrived, also at a premium price, of course. Instead of riding on the coattails of past success and exploiting South Africans' enduring love affair with the brand, why not review the reasons why the 333i and 325iS were so successful? Improvisation and genuine exclusivity.
The Green Paper on EV transformation – Late to the party
As the name “Green Paper” suggests, South Africa is late to the EV party; our policies are still in the incubation phase, perhaps understandably, because we have pressing social issues that require more of the government's attention. Expecting the government to facilitate the expansion of infrastructure to help our motor industry gradually transform from one focused on ICE to electric vehicles is foolhardy if our nation's leadership cannot even get the basic supply of electricity sorted out (using carbon-heavy electricity generation, no less). Heck, talk about putting the cart before the horse!
The government should rather focus on macro strategies to alleviate the costs of EVs through tax levers, such as relaxing excise duties, implementing rebates, but most importantly, letting the private sector drive the change. In America, for the first 250 000 EVs sold by a manufacturer, American consumers get a $7 500 rebate on those units' purchase prices. They’re even increasing that to 400k units.
That's made a huge difference in the uptake of EVs. They’ve also squeezed VW for "Dieselgate" with the Electrify America campaign to boost infrastructure across the nation. China led the way with policy, through encouraging banks to lend to EV capital development as well as cities like Beijing only allowing ICE vehicles to operate at certain hours (guess it’s easier when policy is driven by communism).
Read more: SA Planning Local Electric Vehicle Production
Africa has to been known to fall foul of corruption (sadly, more so than in Europe, China and America), which will inevitably find its way into this equation and slow down our progress. Luckily for us, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel – we can pick and choose the best mechanisms that 1st-world nations have successfully employed and drive those in SA to speed up EV transformation. Easier said than done, though.
