EVs remain an expensive luxury, but improved range and charging times are making them more practical to own
Government may bring down the cost of importing EVs and make them more affordable to SA consumers. Picture: SUPPLIEDseem far-fetched, recent fuel hikes might make more South Africans consider making the switch from internal combustion engines to electric power.
Battery-powered cars react instantly to throttle thrusts, without any pauses in the power delivery, and today’s fastest accelerating supercars are all electric. Their pleasing driveability is enhanced by batteries located in the floor to provide a low centre of gravity, so EVs generally have good handling despite being heavier than regular cars.
The sales growth has been phenomenal over the past decade. In 2012 about 130,000 electric cars were sold worldwide. Today that many are sold in a single week, and last year 6.75-million EVs found new owners, a 108% growth over 2020. Though their running costs can be up to five times cheaper than ICE cars, especially if you charge them at home, the math doesn’t work if you’re wanting to buy an EV to save money. It’s an expensive luxury and SA’s cheapest EV is the Mini Cooper SE at R709,400 — the price of two VW Polos. The BMW i3, with a starting price of R754,200, is the only other EV selling for under R1m.
Economies of scale will eventually drive EV prices down, and analysts forecast they could reach cost parity with ICE vehicles during the second half of this decade, but tax breaks will be needed in the meantime. In addition to high prices, issues like range anxiety, long charging times and the reliability of Eskom’s power supply are hurdles to local consumer acceptance of EVs.
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