The first fully autonomous vehicle may make its debut in South Africa in October, as part of the inaugural Future Mobility Africaevent, organised by the Mobility Centre for Africa (MCA).

The two electric-powered candidates for the first fully autonomous vehicle trial in South Africa are currently, the EZ10 by EasyMile, or the ARMA vehicle by Navya, says MCA executive director Victor Radebe. Both vehicle developers are headquartered in France.

The driverless electric-drive EZ10 shuttle seats 12 passengers, and has already been deployed in Finland, the US and Singapore. The 15-seater ARMA has been in operation in pilot projects in France, Germany and Australia.

Radebe says the location of the October event, to coincide with government’s Transport Month, has not yet been finalised, but has been limited to three possibilities.

In Durban, the driverless shuttles could operate on the Beach Front, in Gauteng it could operate between the Sandton Gautrain station and other landmarks, or between the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, Innovation Hub and the University of Pretoria, and in Cape Town the vehicles could link the V&A Waterfront, Convention Centre, Sea Point and Parliament.

MCA has engaged the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications for a temporary permit to bring the vehicles to South Africa, says Radebe. The center has also met with the Department of Transport to request a permit to operate the vehicle on public roads.

March 2018 Sales in a nutshell

We share the best used car sellers (only IDA dealers on the Signio platform)
VOLKSWAGEN
FORD
TOYOTA
BMW
HYUNDAI

The top three used commercial vehicle sales per manufacturer (bakkies)
RANGER 2.2TDCi XL P/U D/C
UTILITY 1.4 A/C P/U S/C
NP200 1.6 P/U S/C

Top 10 derivatives used car sales
POLO GP 1.2 TSI TRENDLINE (66KW)
POLO 1.4 COMFORTLINE 5DR
FIGO 1.4 AMBIENTE
POLO GP 1.2 TSI COMFORTLINE (66KW)
POLO VIVO GP 1.4 TRENDLINE 5DR
ECOSPORT 1.5TDCi TITANIUM
POLO VIVO 1.4 TRENDLINE (5DR)
FORTUNER 3.0D-4D R/B A/T
POLO VIVO GP 1.4 CONCEPTLINE 5DR
FIESTA 1.4 AMBIENTE 5 Dr

The average age of used vehicles sold in March 2018 was 4.3 years.