How 80% solar changed TFS’s electric fleet economics

Takealot Fulfilment Solutions (TFS), part of the Takealot Group and previously referred to as Takealot in earlier coverage, now sources 50% to 80% of its daily electric-fleet charging energy from on-site solar PV. Battery storage carries excess daytime generation into evening charging periods.

The financial result matters just as much. Across the current 28-truck fleet and its supporting charging infrastructure, actual monthly total cost of ownership (TCO) savings have averaged 18% against equivalent diesel vehicles.

For fleet operators considering electrification, these results show why the vehicle and its energy supply need to be planned together. The truck determines how much energy the operation needs. The charging infrastructure, solar PV, and battery storage influence what that energy costs and how quickly it can be delivered.

From a single truck to a 28-vehicle fleet

TFS’s battery-electric middle-mile fleet began with a single-vehicle viability trial at its Johannesburg depot. The first expansion brought the fleet to 10 trucks charged from the grid.

Even before solar PV and battery storage were introduced, the 10-truck fleet achieved an average monthly TCO saving of 14% against equivalent diesel vehicles.

The next phase expanded the fleet to 21 vehicles and introduced on-site solar PV and battery storage. Average monthly TCO savings increased to 16%.

The best-performing month recorded a 27% saving, coinciding with a period when solar supplied 80% of the fleet’s charging energy.

Today, TFS operates 28 battery-electric trucks across Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town. Together, the vehicles cover between 140,000 km and 170,000 km each month.

Across the current fleet, actual monthly TCO savings have averaged 18% against the diesel comparator. This calculation includes vehicle finance, maintenance, and charging infrastructure costs. It is based on measured monthly results rather than projected savings.

The 27% and 18% figures describe different measures. The 27% saving was achieved during the best-performing month of an earlier phase. The 18% figure is the average reported across the current 28-vehicle fleet.

Our earlier electric-fleet case study documents a previous phase of the programme. The latest results show how the operation has developed as more vehicles and renewable-energy infrastructure have been added.

TFS’s battery-electric middle-mile fleet at the depot.

Using daytime sunshine for evening charging

Solar generation and vehicle charging do not always happen at the same time.

TFS’s trucks may need to charge after completing their routes, when solar output has fallen or stopped. Battery storage helps bridge that timing gap by holding excess solar energy generated during the day and making it available during evening charging periods.

Across TFS’s 3 major depots, on-site solar PV now supplies 50% to 80% of daily fleet charging energy. On optimal days, the renewable-energy share reaches 83%, leaving as little as 17% of the fleet’s charging energy to be supplied by the grid.

The fleet still uses grid electricity when it is required. Its progress towards energy independence comes from steadily reducing the share of energy that must be purchased externally.

Solar PV can also unlock faster charging

Solar PV does more than reduce the cost and grid contribution of charging. It can also increase the power available to the chargers without creating the same peak in the depot’s grid demand.

Before TFS added on-site solar generation, Aeversa had to limit charging power during certain periods. Running the charging stations at full rated power could push the depot’s grid demand to a higher peak, resulting in increased peak-demand charges.

When sufficient solar generation became available, more of the chargers’ power could be supplied behind the meter. This allowed the charging system to increase its output, up to the charging stations’ full rated power where vehicle and operating conditions permitted, without drawing the equivalent peak from the grid.

The practical result was faster charging with better control over peak-demand costs.

This distinction matters when planning an electric fleet. Charging speed depends on more than the rating printed on the charging station. It also depends on how much power the depot can provide at that moment, what other equipment is drawing electricity, and how much energy is available from on-site generation and storage.

A high-powered charging station cannot deliver its full operational value if the depot has to restrict it whenever electricity demand approaches an expensive peak.

TFS battery-electric trucks using Aeversa charging infrastructure.

More control over a volatile operating cost

In April 2026, the Gauteng wholesale price of 50 ppm diesel increased by R7.51/l to R26.11/l following disruption in international oil markets.

Electricity tariffs also increased. NERSA approved an average increase of 8.76% for Eskom direct customers from 1 April 2026 and 9.01% for municipal customers from 1 July 2026.

TFS’s electric fleet is no longer directly exposed to diesel-price changes. By generating more charging energy on-site, the operation has also reduced its exposure to grid-tariff increases.

This does not make the fleet immune to energy costs. It gives the operator greater control over where its energy comes from and how much must be purchased from external suppliers.

For a logistics business, that greater control can make monthly energy costs easier to forecast. More predictable input costs can support better route planning, pricing decisions, and margin management.

What this means for your fleet

TFS’s results provide a commercial example for other fleet operators to examine. They do not guarantee that every electric fleet will achieve the same savings.

Your business case depends on the distances your vehicles travel, the times they return to the depot, the energy available at each site, and the cost of the required charging infrastructure.

Aeversa’s Fleet Electrification Simulation models each vehicle’s routes, utilisation, energy requirements, and costs against an equivalent internal-combustion vehicle. It connects the vehicle-level TCO comparison to a depot plan covering charging infrastructure and energy requirements.

This gives you a measured basis for deciding which routes suit battery-electric vehicles and what infrastructure those vehicles will need.

Read the full story in Engineering News: Takealot Fulfillment Solutions’ electric fleet nears energy independence.