South African regulations on premium efficiency IE3 motors open a door of opportunity for geared motor users, says SEW-EURODRIVE, but forward planning and the considered advice of established and trusted experts is vital.

With the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) now mandatory since June 2025, many users of electric motors might be confused about their next step. Worse still, they may be vulnerable to poor decision-making due to uncertainty and opportunistic buying, according to Willem Strydom, SEW-EURODRIVE’S Manager for Business Development Electronics.

“Having supplied IE3 motors as standard in our relevant geared units for some years already, and at no added cost, there is nothing in the regulations surprising to us or our customer base,” explains Strydom. “However, there are still many players in the market who might not be up to date with the regulatory developments – and we are well placed to be of service.”

He notes that some companies may feel pressurised by fear-mongering messages in the market to unnecessarily replace less efficient motors. On the other hand, the looming moratorium on the sale of IE1 and IE2 motors may lead to these units being ‘dumped’ on the market at cut-rate prices. This may tempt companies to buy old technology that will cost them dearly in terms of energy consumption.

“The regulations remind the market of the financial and sustainability value of using more efficient motors -  but the real benefit lies in system efficiencies,” says Strydom. “This is where companies can benefit the most when planning their shift to IE3 motors.”

Natasha Meintjies, Business Development Electronics Proposal Engineer at SEW-EURODRIVE, explains that the customer journey often begins with an energy efficiency test – which SEW-EURODRIVE conducts at no cost at the customer’s site.

“By measuring the energy consumption on the customer’s existing motors and comparing this to our IE3 motors, we can provide them with an energy cost saving analysis,” says Meintjies. “There is typically an immediate cost saving of 4 to 8% of the motor’s power consumption, but more significant benefits can be achieved when moving to system level.”

This includes SEW-EURODRIVE’s more energy efficient drives, which can take the energy savings to another level – up to 20 to 30%, she says. These results are achieved from integrating the latest monitoring and optimisation technologies into the system.

“This also gives the customer more overall process stability and reduced maintenance costs,” she says. “Our modular designs ensure that all the components work together seamlessly for the best efficiencies and performance, making the whole system more reliable.”

Strydom highlights that SEW-EURODRIVE’s global research and development has ensured that the company already has ‘super premium efficiency’ IE4 and ‘ultra premium efficiency’ IE5 motors in its market offerings already.

“Our in-house laboratory in Germany is also third-party approved to test our motors for energy efficiency - as the IE3 benchmark has been mandatory for some years in Europe,” he says. “The test certificates that we issue are therefore accepted by South Africa’s national regulator; we worked on this well in advance to be ready for these regulations.”

He points out that MEPS will be a valuable enabler for companies to mitigate the effect of rising power costs, especially as they reassess their drive systems with an integrated approach in mind and with experts like SEW-EURODRIVE to advise.

The MEPS specification applies to a broad range of three-phase, low voltage electric motors with rated power output between 0,75 kW to 375 kW and includes motors with non-standard mechanical dimensions and geared motors. Motor users are permitted to run their existing IE1 and IE2 motors until they need to replace them due to failure. From a retailer’s point of view, these IE1 and IE2 motors are allowed to be sold until May 2026.