More South Africans want electric cars, but can’t afford them

More South Africans are interested in buying electric vehicles (EVs), but the harsh reality is that few can afford them. In fact, with the most affordable new EV from a traditional carmaker carrying a price tag just shy of R700 000, only 92 was sold locally in all of 2020.

EVs on offer in South Africa are the Mini Cooper S E (R686 400), BMW i3 (starting at R754 200), Volvo XC40 P8 Recharge (R1.2-million), Jaguar I-Pace (R1.9-million) and Porsche Taycan (starting at R2.2-million).

South Africa’s EV pioneer the Nissan Leaf has been discontinued, while a tiny city commuter not associated to a traditional carmaker in the form of the Eleksa Citybug was recently introduced for R200 000.

But despite the price being an obvious deterrent, South Africans are starting to warm up to the concept of EVs. According to AutoTrader’s mid-year Car Industry Report, online searches for EVs from January to June this year was more than double compared to 2020. The 285 000 searches for EVs during from January to June 2021 equate to a massive 211% increase.

AutoTrader reckons that the significant increase is a combination of the Taycan and electric Mini entering the local market, education on EV technology and investment into supporting EV owners such as grid charging infrastructure.

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It’s hardly surprising that South Africa’s most searched overall car brand, BMW, also tops the list for most searched EVs. The i3 was searched 111 450 times during the first six months of 2021, giving it a 39% share of the total for searched EVs in South Africa.

The Taycan was hot on the i3’s heels with 104 452 searches, followed by the I-Pace (50 240) and the Mini (17 797). The I-Pace, however, showed significant growth compared to 2020 by registering an 84% increase in searches.

In addition to the mid-year report, AutoTrader has also conducted an EV buyers survey to help provide insights into consumer perception, expectation, purchase intent, awareness and trust of EVs.

The latest survey results show that 79% of respondents are willing to pay up to R500 000 for an EV. This indicates an increase from 66% compared to a year ago, even though that amount is still way short of the most affordable EV offered by a traditional carmaker. More than half of the respondents indicated that they expect to own an EV by 2027.

The top three perceived disadvantages indicated by respondent are charging time, the lack of charging infrastructure and loadshedding. The initial cost of purchase is deemed to be a disadvantage by almost half of respondents, but 67.9% did indicate they are willing to pay more up front given the lower running costs.

The survey found that the top drawing cards for EVs are reduced carbon emissions, reduces air pollution and cheaper running costs.

Too see the 2020 Mid-Year AutoTrader Car Industry Report, click here.