SAAE Fellow and Exco Member Dr Pine Pienaar who presented the 2024 Academy Lecture
Fellow Dr Pine Pienaar presented the first of SAAE’s 2024 Academy Lectures on 19 March 2024 in hybrid mode in the Auditorium of Engineering4 on the campus of the University of Pretoria. The title of his presentation was Powering ahead – the rise of electric vehicles in South Africa amidst global e mobility dynamics. Dr Pienaar was a member of the CAETS Energy Work Group that prepared a report on transport decarbonisation. He also attended the CAETS Technical Symposium on E-mobility in Zagreb in October 2023. The purpose of the presentation was to provide an overview of the above CAETS initiatives. Dr Pienaar is a member of the SANRAL road research panel and is involved in a research project focused on the role of the electric vehicle in SA. He gave an overview of various important initiatives by industries and entities such as the vehicle manufacturing and vehicle importation industries (NAAMSA), the Electric Vehicle Industry Association, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTIC), and various cities, provinces, and universities. Dr Pienaar also reviewed the recently published Just Energy Transition Investment Plan and the Electric Vehicles White Paper. The meeting was attended by 30 persons and 178 persons registered to attend the lecture online.