Electric vehicle registrations surging in South Africa

Luis

Luis

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Electric vehicle registrations surging in South Africa

Surging fuel prices and the first local sales reports from a Chinese automotive giant have pushed electric vehicle (EV) registrations in South Africa to unprecedented levels in early 2026.

According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa, EV sales between January and May 2026 reached 1,454 units.
 
This morning doing the school drop off, there was at least 8 EVs that I counted without looking too hard, it's certainly picking up.
 
ThinkCentre said:
Electric cars that are only sold by BYD and Tesla are taking off. The rest is struggling!
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Teslas are for people with more money than sense.

BYDs are actually decently priced

the rest are struggling because they still somehow think electric cars can carry a 30-40% premium over an ICE equivalent.
 
wingnut771 said:
Why do you ignore Tesla in Vienna? Do you hate Elon or something?
View attachment 1915892
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Did I say Tesla wasn't doing all right?
It's more that it's mostly older Teslas, I see more new VW on the road, can see as 2025/26 as newer designs.

Tesla used to outsell everyone else combined, now they're probably 3/4th place (VW, then it's between BYD and BMW, skoda might have been ahead in 2025 as well, but think their electric competitor only released some time in 2025).

This is all cars (PKW)
www.leadersnet.at

Diese Marken und Modelle hatten bei den Autokäufern 2025 die Nase vorn

2025 wurden in Österreich deutlich mehr neue Pkw verkauft als 2024. Während beim Gesamtmarkt drei alte Bekannte am Treppchen landen, macht sich bei den Privatkund:innen der Sparwille bemerkbar – hier führen zwei Dacia-Modelle das Ranking an. Private haben im Vorjahr auch deutlich mehr... |...
www.leadersnet.at www.leadersnet.at
Tesla makes up 2.2% of the market, over 20% of sales are now electric:
https://alternative-fuels-observato...er-car-registrations-strong-growth-and-rising

And VW is introducing stuff like the ID Polo, so will be interesting to see how it goes end of year.
 
Johnatan56 said:
Did I say Tesla wasn't doing all right?
It's more that it's mostly older Teslas, I see more new VW on the road, can see as 2025/26 as newer designs.

Tesla used to outsell everyone else combined, now they're probably 3/4th place (VW, then it's between BYD and BMW, skoda might have been ahead in 2025 as well, but think their electric competitor only released some time in 2025).

This is all cars (PKW)
www.leadersnet.at

Diese Marken und Modelle hatten bei den Autokäufern 2025 die Nase vorn

2025 wurden in Österreich deutlich mehr neue Pkw verkauft als 2024. Während beim Gesamtmarkt drei alte Bekannte am Treppchen landen, macht sich bei den Privatkund:innen der Sparwille bemerkbar – hier führen zwei Dacia-Modelle das Ranking an. Private haben im Vorjahr auch deutlich mehr... |...
www.leadersnet.at www.leadersnet.at
Tesla makes up 2.2% of the market, over 20% of sales are now electric:
https://alternative-fuels-observato...er-car-registrations-strong-growth-and-rising

And VW is introducing stuff like the ID Polo, so will be interesting to see how it goes end of year.
Click to expand...
You didn’t say anything about Tesla, you completely ignored Tesla in Vienna and went straight to praising VW in Vienna.

Dont get me wrong, I would never get a Tesla, I love buttons too much. So glad ID polo now has real buttons on steering wheel. I just hate the hidden door handle fake coupe look design.
 
wingnut771 said:
You didn’t say anything about Tesla, you completely ignored Tesla in Vienna and went straight to praising VW in Vienna.

Dont get me wrong, I would never get a Tesla, I love buttons too much. So glad ID polo now has real buttons on steering wheel. I just hate the hidden door handle fake coupe look design.
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You said only Tesla and BYD are taking off, I was saying how VW (and BMW) are also doing well. Didn't mean to say Tesla doesn't have sales, but post 2025 they are not dominating the market like before.
 
Johnatan56 said:
You said only Tesla and BYD are taking off, I was saying how VW (and BMW) are also doing well. Didn't mean to say Tesla doesn't have sales, but post 2025 they are not dominating the market like before.
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I didn't even mention BYD. All I said was Tesla is not sold in South Africa as this thread is talking about South Africa. You then start talking about VW in Vienna.
 
Sapphiron said:
Teslas are for people with more money than sense.
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Not really. Their tech is way ahead of anything else. Add in the supercharger ecosystem and it's pretty compelling.

I'll get another tesla before I consider a different EV. Especially from a more traditional brand which doesn't have the same EV DNA. It makes a difference.

I might consider BYD. But need to see how they hold up in the longer run with software, updates, etc.
 
Sinbad said:
Not really. Their tech is way ahead of anything else. Add in the supercharger ecosystem and it's pretty compelling.

I'll get another tesla before I consider a different EV. Especially from a more traditional brand which doesn't have the same EV DNA. It makes a difference.

I might consider BYD. But need to see how they hold up in the longer run with software, updates, etc.
Click to expand...
The dumbest move tesla made was opening up charger network to other manufacturers. This is why their sales have dropped. Too many people like buttons.
 
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