Marloes, Reinink, Director: In 2013, Solid Green had been operating for two years and had 3 directors and 6 employees. Our offices were located in the hustle and bustle of Rosebank, where we only had 2 parking bays. All our employees drove to work in their private cars, and parking was arranged at a public parking area around the corner from the office. We used my bright green Ford Fiesta as the company car and we had two electric bicycles which people could use for short trips.

The three directors lived within a 4-kilometer radius of the office and decided it was time to encourage staff to think differently about commuting to their workplace. Sitting in traffic in the morning is time consuming, stressful, and not a great way to start your day.

Today, Solid Green has 2 directors and 11 employees, none of whom drive to work in their private car! We still only have 2 parking bays, but we only use one and the other one is for visitors. What has happened?

The company directors set an example by living close to where they work and always thinking differently about transportation. Both directors only have one car per household; and three years ago, Solid Green invested in a branded electric car, the Nissan Leaf, which is used by everyone to go to meetings. The Gautrain is also used to commute to meetings, and a company account has been set up with Uber for meetings if the Leaf is already booked. Our employees no longer use private cars to go to meetings – this is discouraged by management as there are the above-mentioned alternatives.

Some of our staff have moved home, and purposefully searched for places closer to the office. We also provide a transport incentive for those people who can use public transport, by paying for their fares when they take public transport.

Most of the employees have sold their cars and have realised that there is a financial benefit to not having a car. Our ‘work-from-home’ policy allows people to work from home whenever they want to – on average, people work from home approximately 1 day per week. We also have a flexi-time policy. Employees are responsible for their own projects and can arrive early or late in order to avoid traffic as long as they complete their work as required.

Chilufya Lombe, Director:

My wife and I both live within 4 kilometres of our work and decided to sell one car and share the remaining one. During the week, I uber to the office, sometimes uber back, and sometimes walk (summer only). Other than reducing the impact on the environment, the monthly uber cost is now less than the insurance I was paying previously. It took a little bit of getting used to but I am thoroughly enjoying it. Separating the need for transport from the act of owning a car has been a real eye opener.

Dash Coville:

Location is the major contributor to reducing dependency on car travel. Solid Green is located in the mixed-use hub of Rosebank, a pedestrian friendly node with easy access to the Gautrain, Metro Bus routes and taxi rank. As a leader in the sustainability field, we believe that we should walk the talk. In 2014, my wife and I decided to share a single car. In 2015, we moved within 2km of the office to enable easier travel to the office by bike. At the end of 2016, we moved within walking distance of the office.

Gavin Westbrook:

I started working with Solid Green in 2013 as a consultant and commuted by car. The occasional commute to the the office could take 20 to 90 minutes. When I started working here full-time in 2015, I experimented with using a motorcycle and my commute then never took longer than 25 minutes with traffic only having a marginal effect. By the end of the year I had only used the car on three occasions so it was sold. This has saved me the insurance costs, and what I spent on fuel in a week for the car gets me through nearly two months on the motorcycle. And, unexpectedly, I haven’t really lost any utility with the bike compared to the car in being able to move my things around. I am now in the process of buying a flat in Rosebank so I can walk to the office, shops and entertainment.

Jesse Hamman:

I have owned my car since 2007 and it is now 12-years old and only has 65,000km on the clock, which is a good indication of how I feel about private car use. In 2016, I moved within 3km of the office and started car-pooling with my partner. I now easily walk to amenities that are located close to my house instead of driving. In 2017, I started car-pooling with my colleague, Annelide; and this year, my partner decided to sell his car and uber to work daily. Having only one car takes a little getting used to but, ideally, if we lived in a city where public transport was easily accessible, we would sell the other car in a heartbeat. The additional available monthly capital is also a great gain.

Zendre Compion:

I live in Pretoria and when I started working for Solid Green, my husband’s business here was already well-established so I was the one who had to commute. I use the Gautrain. The challenge was driving through to the Centurion Gautrain station in traffic. Two years ago, when we looked for a new home, one of the deciding factors was to move closer to one of the Gautrain stations. We now live close to Pretoria Gautrain station and my train commute is 7 minutes longer, but traffic does not really affect my commute at all. Since returning from maternity leave, I have been working from home most days. The flexibility offered by the company in this regard is hugely beneficial. I attend a bi-weekly informal office meeting and travel to Joburg when I need to meet with colleagues and clients.

Annelide Sherratt:

I have been an employee at Solid Green since 2012. Being one of the first employees and a woman, I had a dedicated parking bay. As the company grew, we all started parking in free public parking around the corner or in the streets in Rosebank. In 2016, I sold my car and in 2017, Jesse moved to within 2km of my home. Solid Green offered to pay for our Uber trips every time we carpooled to and from work. It took a bit of time and planning to coordinate our schedules but, with this helpful incentive, we are now able to carpool every day and work from home on Wednesdays.

Solid Green has been a leader in driving sustainable transformation in the building industry but also in the daily life of its employees by implementing what we stand for. Solid Green has encouraged us to transform our behaviour regarding transport associated with commuting to work and meetings, and has helped to change our mindset and behaviour related to the environment in our immediate context.

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Cape Agulhas

As with the drive down, charging was never an issue. Hosts were always happy to assist and, in one case, provided me with an extension cord to reach the parking! In most cases, the request to charge the i3 sparked a conversation and connection that one would otherwise not have had with the owners of the various establishments at which I stayed.

Making a plan to charge in the Drakensberg

By this time, I had refined an elevator pitch to explain the operation of the car when refuelling – a ritual that happens often on such a long road trip with only a nine litre tank. The best one-liner I’ve come up with so far is: “It uses electricity in the city, and petrol on long trips.” As sophomoric as this may sound, it actually sums up the value proposition of the car. Great performance from the electric motor and zero-emissions driving in cities – with the option to go on long trips and get the kind of fuel consumption associated with a Diesel-gate manufacturer’s claim.

The usual interest at fuel stops

This too-good-to-be-true combination of acceleration and fuel consumption does come at a cost on longer trips though, and the regular fuel stops are probably not to the liking of all consumers.

What I was curious to find out was: how fuel efficient is this car in real-world conditions on long road trips? I diligently recorded the amount of fuel at each stop and distances covered. Of course, going from sea level to an altitude of 1 700 metres means that this was the less efficient leg of the trip. Nonetheless, the results were very good and resulted in a net fuel consumption of 6.3 litres per 100 km over 2 600 km. I estimate that on the way down, that number was closer to 5.5 litres.

Compared to similar cars, you can’t find anything that has such low consumption and quick acceleration. Diesels match it in terms of fuel use, but are far slower. Performance petrol cars that have similar acceleration use far more fuel. It’s a happy medium that provides the best of both worlds.

Fuel consumption

With the Tesla Model 3 about a year away in South Africa, it’s a matter of time until fuel stations are a thing of the past for me, and I’ll certainly miss the ritual and novelty of introducing someone to the first EV they have seen. I just hope there isn’t a queue at the supercharger station halfway down the route to the coast!

Tsitsikamma National Park

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The ritual of refilling the BMW i3 REX (REX meaning Range-extender – a term for the small petrol generator that can keep this electric vehicle’s battery charged) is the same no matter what city, roadside filling station or small town you come to.

Stopping short of the pump, petrol attendants always ask you to move forward to access what seems to be the petrol flap at the rear. This actually conceals the electric charging port, as the petrol tank is filled at the front of the car. From there you get the same series of questions: Is that a second petrol tank at the back? No – it’s for an electric charger for the battery. How far can you go on a charge? About 130 km. Is the car fast? Yes – it will out-accelerate most performance cars. In fact, up to 40 km an hour it’s the quickest car BMW has ever made.

Making a plan to charge overnight in Amanzimtoti

I once had an owner of a petrol station along the N3 approach me and ask if I could drive him in the car. Impressed by the acceleration, he said: “It’s just a matter of time before I’ll have to close down.” In the long run, he’s right. But petrol cars will be here to stay for another few decades. Bloomberg predicts that by 2022, electric cars will cost the same as their petrol counterparts – but with far lower operating costs. Then there’s the superior performance. Batteries will continue to get smaller and lighter while petrol engines are up against their physical limits.

After all, the world’s fastest production car is the Tesla Model S P100D. Think about that for a second – there is no road-legal Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren or Porsche that can accelerate as fast as the Tesla. And yet the Tesla is a tenth of the price of some of its petrol competitors and seats seven people – all this while qualifying for low-emissions rebates in most first-world countries.

The Route

With that reality approaching, I always enjoy indulging people’s curiosity about the i3 – knowing that this is often a person’s first experience with an EV ahead of a future where they will be the norm. Along this route I’ve chosen from Johannesburg to Cape Town via the Drakensberg and Eastern Cape, most people have never seen an electric car, as these vehicles are only sold in larger cities. To my knowledge, no one has attempted a trip as long as this one.

Stopping over in Clarens for the day

The trip was born out of a question I’d often get. Sure, the BMW i3 is great for cruising around town at almost zero fuel cost where you can charge it each night using the home charger, but can it get to Durban? While I’m of the opinion that most motorists overestimate the amount of long trips they actually undertake, I was determined to prove that not only was Durban possible without much inconvenience, but so was an extended and scenic route to Cape Town.

The route I took involved stops in the northern Drakensberg, Clarens, Central Drakensberg, Durban, East London, Kenton-on-Sea and finally Cape Town. The latter leg of the trip was a marathon 874 km, proving that the i3 REX is a match for any distance one may want to do.

Fuel-Efficient technology

Although sold as an EV, the REX version of the i3 is actually what is termed a series hybrid. This means that a small onboard engine acts as a generator to keep the battery charged if you ever run out of electrical energy in the battery. While handy to alleviate range anxiety in South Africa, I find that I have never actually needed it in the city where I start each day with 130 km thanks to an overnight charge. Where it becomes handy is on long road trips. This feature offers the car the convenience of an EV which can be charged for almost nothing in the city, while giving incredible fuel efficiency on long trips.

Ready for the return trip at the last stop in Stellenbosch

The BMW i3 is still the most fuel-efficient car ever sold commercially. This is partly due to the low weight attributed to the carbon-fibre construction of the cabin, and partly due to the full regenerative braking. The novelty never wears off when coming down a mountain pass and watching the battery charge climb as you descend.

I’ve actually done a few long trips before this one. Never anything as bold as Joburg to Cape Town – the long way round – but I’ve made it to the coast at Sodwana, and the Drakensberg is a regular weekend jaunt for me in the i3. I can make it there on less than R200 worth of petrol, so why not?

Between all those prior trips and this epic one, I’ve never found a place where I’ve stayed that has not let me charge the car overnight. This, of course, buys you an extra free 130 km before the petrol generator needs to kick in on the next day’s driving. It’s always fun to see the fascination of the guest-house or hotel owner when they’re presented with a request to charge the car. Offering EV-charging stations is something that more and more hotels and guest houses are doing internationally, and it’s a matter of time until South Africa follows suit. It’s nice to know that this is not the last time they will receive this request.

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Electric vehicles (EVs) promise to be an integral part of the future of transport and energy in the green built environment – specifically with deployment of charging stations in residential, commercial and retail developments – which may offer vehicle-to-grid (V2G) virtual storage for renewable energy. Demand for batteries for EVs is also driving their price down and this promises to result in a market for repurposed EV batteries for use in the storage of solar energy in buildings.

Green Building Convention goers trying out Solid Green’s electric vehicles

Using a Nissan Leaf as the company pool car, Solid Green is able to save around R3 000 in fuel cost per month and eliminate harmful emissions in the city. The car is charged with the Solid Green rooftop solar panel installation, thus significantly reducing the carbon emissions associated with driving.

Earlier in the year, Solid Green’s Warren Gary and Dash Coville took six matric learners from Beaulieu College who are interested in engineering on a drive in the electric cars. The outing included a visit to the Corner Main Office Park solar installation facilitated by Emergent Energy, a tour of the Solid Green offices and a short presentation on building simulation.

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