South African Neil Du Preez’s 100% electric-powered Mellowvan is a game-changer — a three-wheeler built for speed, sustainability, and efficiency. The delivery car is steering the future of urban mobility!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Go!
00:05Take one.
00:19There's this phrase that says,
00:21no DNA, just RSA.
00:22And it's used to describe something or someone
00:25that is 100% proudly South African.
00:28And this three-wheeled, 100% electric vehicle
00:33is exactly such a product.
00:35It is made by a company called Mellow Vans,
00:38and they are an innovative disruptor
00:40in the mobility sector,
00:42charging the way forward
00:44into what is possibly the future of an economy
00:47that has not yet been quite tapped into
00:50in the South African market.
00:52Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:55Whoa, Neil.
00:56Cadillac, oh.
00:57Oh, what an experience, bro.
01:00No, you enjoyed it, man.
01:01That was absolutely amazing.
01:03Thank you, appreciate it.
01:04Fantastic to meet you.
01:05Likewise.
01:06And especially after having had my very first ride
01:09in one of your inventions
01:11in what is proving to be quite a disruptor
01:13in the mobility space, right?
01:14Thank you, absolutely.
01:15So talk to me about Mellow Vans.
01:17What is it?
01:18Mellow Vans,
01:19absolutely.
01:20So talk to me about Mellow Vans
01:22and where this idea started from.
01:24Yeah, well, after university,
01:26I spent some time living in the Far East,
01:28and then obviously the Asians have been using
01:30smaller electric vehicle for ages.
01:37We came back to South Africa and thought,
01:38well, we can do it better.
01:40Yeah.
01:41So basically that's where we started.
01:42It's a 10 year process to get where we're now.
01:44Wow, how did it all progress?
01:46Yeah, basically it starts
01:49in your own garage where you start drawing things
01:51and you play around with little machines.
01:54That then evolved basically to a small university project,
01:58which then got funded, luckily.
02:00Through that funding process,
02:01we could actually build a few prototypes.
02:04And then basically snowballed to where we are now,
02:07building four vehicles a day, exporting to Europe.
02:10Wow.
02:19If I'm an entrepreneur and I'm watching this at home,
02:22what would be some of the ideas I could cotton onto
02:26where I could use one of these Mellow Vans in a business?
02:31Well, I think you start by looking at the cost
02:33of operating a vehicle like this.
02:35In South Africa, we run at 15 South African cents a kilometer.
02:38So that really is a massive difference
02:40compared to a normal internal combustion engine.
02:42Right.
02:43Then you can start thinking about
02:44how do you get the most out of it?
02:46Yeah.
02:47The list goes on.
02:47Yeah.
02:48Yeah, cost tuned.
02:49Are they easy to charge, by the way?
02:51Super easy to charge.
02:52Every vehicle has a built-in charger.
02:53So you just plug it into the normal wall socket
02:55and the vehicle will charge.
02:57By the way, how much can you really fit
02:58into one of these Mellow Vans?
03:01Well, in terms of capacity,
03:03we've got 2.5 cubic meters of space.
03:04So that's more than enough for anything
03:06you want to deliver in a last mile environment.
03:08Wow.
03:09Yeah.
03:09That's a lot of space.
03:10Yeah.
03:11That's a lot of space.
03:12Yeah.
03:13That's a lot of space.
03:14Yeah.
03:14That's a lot of space you can deliver
03:15in a last mile environment.
03:16From groceries to even a baby elephant in the back.
03:20I like that you mentioned that
03:21because I've got a team behind the scenes
03:23and I want to see if I could help them fit into that.
03:25Yeah, yeah.
03:26Yeah, let's do it.
03:27Come on, one by one.
03:29Let's see.
03:30That's one.
03:31Okay.
03:37That's three.
03:40Wow.
03:41That's four.
03:42That's a big line.
03:44I see what I did there.
03:47I think we can make one more.
03:50Wow, that's incredible.
03:53Now, I wonder if it,
03:54could it,
03:55would it be able to close?
03:57Just, guys, I just want to see where they can.
03:58Don't worry, it's okay.
04:00Don't panic.
04:01You're all fine.
04:04That's absolutely amazing, man.
04:06Appreciate it.
04:11How long are we going to be in here?
04:12Oh!
04:14Anyone here claustrophobic?
04:16Me?
04:17Me?
04:17I'm very claustrophobic.
04:19Oh, really?
04:19In the smallest spot.
04:20Yeah.
04:21Okay, I'm going to have a hip cramp in a sec.
04:25Hang in there.
04:26There's plenty of headroom.
04:30All right, guys, it's three days later.
04:31Did you survive?
04:33Cheers, cheers.
04:34Come on up.