THE PHOENIX THE PHOEN
EDITOR’ S NOTE
DIESEL FLEET TIPPING POINT?
From trucks to minibus taxis and bakkies, diesel moves goods and people and keeps South Africa running. The country ' s size and reliance on truck cargo mean diesel price increases drive real transport cost inflation for consumers.
In October, South Africans will pay more for diesel fuel than ever before. Throughout the year, events in the Middle East have meant extraordinary oil price volatility, but that ' s only part of the issue. Crude oil is the base element for liquid fuel production, but without specific refining capacity, it ' s just a potential energy commodity. What really matters is refining capability and capacity.
South Africa has lost the majority of its refining capacity. Many local fuel refineries were built in the 1960s and 1970s and have aged out. That means the chemical engineering upgrades required to keep them current and producing low-sulphur fuels are too expensive. The issue is that the more finished fuel South Africa imports, the more expensive the entire supply chain becomes, culminating in extraordinary diesel prices.
The country ' s reliance on diesel, from farming to transport and industrial uses like mining, is not going to decrease. South Africa ' s geography, a large size where most commercial transport logistics are long distance, means that diesel trucks and bakkies link suppliers to customers.
THE EV FLEET PARADOX
Are there options to reduce the diesel price shock for South African consumers and fleet operators? For light commercial trucks and van delivery fleets operating in larger cities or urban areas, several Chinese EV models are on offer. South Africa also has local startups like Zimi, which specialise in developing on-site charging infrastructure and telematics to manage EV fleets.
The issue is that no long-distance trucking or logistics solution exists beyond diesel. Charge( formerly known as Zero Carbon Charge), has developed an impressive network of true off-grid solar recharging stations across the country, targeting main highway routes. But the truth is that battery capacity to operate a heavy-duty EV cargo truck from Cape Town to Gauteng, or to Durban, is still not at a cost-toperformance or timeframe parity where it makes commercial sense.
Crisis does trigger innovation, and South Africans proved how innovative they could be during the peak of the Eskom power crisis. Could the same calibre of innovation create world-class fleet logistics solutions over long distances with EVs?
Lance
1 WORDS IN ACTION OCTOBER 2026 1