R30,000 saved driving an electric car for a year in South Africa

Xflint said:
Sold my hybrid daily car and bought a R350k EV full house cash. Saved over R3k in fuel costs in the first month. Occasional DC charging but mostly home charging. Only drove my diesel guzzler once in the last month. At R37 per 100km, vs R130 per 100km for the petrol hybrid, it's a no brainer.

Not even going to compare it the the cost of running a diesel SUV with sky high diesel prices which is going to skyrocket month end.

Low cost service every 30000km to replace cooling fluid, one pedal driving with regen and hardly pressing the brakes. Maintenance is a win too.

It's now my primary car. Depreciation is not a worry on a low cost vehicle. 8 year battery warranty is not an issue either as I never keep a car that long. And new gen low cost battery ev's are coming.

Charging off a solar system makes running cos
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R350k cash, "low cost vehicle", sorry mate you live in a different world from me.
 
Koos Custodiet said:
R350k cash, "low cost vehicle", sorry mate you live in a different world from me.
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Also, what other, more productive work could that R350k have done if he didn’t spend it on an EV to “save money”.

Even a semi decent broker should be getting you 12-15% annual returns.

I drive about 35k km/year, and even at the current extreme fuel prices, that is costing me around R80k a year in diesel. In a large family SUV with all the bells and whistles, place for the dogs in the boot etc. So, after compounding the interest earned by not spending the R350k, my annual fuel spend only costs me about R20k a year.

What does R350k buy you in the EV market? A little city runabout.

I’m not completely anti EV, and I think they have their place in the transport mix, but this argument that an EV will save you money is simply mental gymnastics to justify buying something you don’t need to justify to anyone anyway. Buy whatever car you want, enjoy driving it, amd forget about needing to justify it to anyone.
 
That's why the famous line is "run the numbers".

It's all opportunity cost.

Said opportunity cost will differ between individual.

That's exacty why the evangelist EV artlces here are PK.

YMMV, there is no one shoe fits all.
 
Xflint said:
Sold my hybrid daily car and bought a R350k EV full house cash. Saved over R3k in fuel costs in the first month. Occasional DC charging but mostly home charging. Only drove my diesel guzzler once in the last month. At R37 per 100km, vs R130 per 100km for the petrol hybrid, it's a no brainer.

Not even going to compare it the the cost of running a diesel SUV with sky high diesel prices which is going to skyrocket month end.

Low cost service every 30000km to replace cooling fluid, one pedal driving with regen and hardly pressing the brakes. Maintenance is a win too.

It's now my primary car. Depreciation is not a worry on a low cost vehicle. 8 year battery warranty is not an issue either as I never keep a car that long. And new gen low cost battery ev's are coming.

Charging off a solar system makes running cos
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This is the way.
 
The technology isn't there yet for EV to replace my car but the wife and children would probably benefit. It's part of the future proofing I've tried to build into my upcoming solar installation.
 
FiestaST said:
That's why the famous line is "run the numbers".

It's all opportunity cost.

Said opportunity cost will differ between individual.

That's exacty why the evangelist EV artlces here are PK.

YMMV, there is no one shoe fits all.
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If you compare them with other cars in their segment, it isn’t even close. Like compare them with an automatic that has the same sort of power.

The Chery tiggo 4 CVT is R310 000. The Geely E2 apex is R340 000. When you look at it like that, the total cost of ownership isn’t even close.

Even when you look at other automatics with the same sort of power, it sits in the range.

On that list, you have the Hyundai Grand I10 for a good R280k. But that has 60kw and a zero on the NCAP. So not comparable to the Geely with 85kw and 5 stars.
 
konfab said:
If you compare them with other cars in their segment, it isn’t even close. Like compare them with an automatic that has the same sort of power.

The Chery tiggo 4 CVT is R310 000. The Geely E2 apex is R340 000. When you look at it like that, the total cost of ownership isn’t even close.

Even when you look at other automatics with the same sort of power, it sits in the range.

On that list, you have the Hyundai Grand I10 for a good R280k. But that has 60kw and a zero on the NCAP. So not comparable to the Geely with 85kw and 5 stars.
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You're talking at face value.

How do we know if "patient zero" has the ability to charge at home?

What about having a paid off reliable runner/cabbie? Now said party must go into debt to save a few K a month vs what else could be done with those bucks.

How long is a piece of string.

Back to my point, run the numbers & see what works for you based on your own requirements & needs. There are certain folks at MyBB HQ & here that have a massive boner for "EV Everything". Major turnoff.
 
FiestaST said:
You're talking at face value.

How do we know if "patient zero" has the ability to charge at home?

What about having a paid off reliable runner/cabbie? Now said party must go into debt to save a few K a month vs what else could be done with those bucks.

How long is a piece of string.

Back to my point, run the numbers & see what works for you based on your own requirements & needs. There are certain folks at MyBB HQ & here that have a massive boner for "EV Everything". Major turnoff.
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You have to compare like for like if you want that comparison to be fair.

Just keeping your old car going is usually the best option financially. At least until there is an actual fuel shortage.

If you are replacing your car for a different reason( like it has a high likelihood of breaking down catastrophically), then the financial aspect comes into play and that is where they win.

As for the lack of home charging, yeah that negates the biggest convenience. It isn’t even financial.

My wife’s A class was going to be a lot of trouble in the near future( WeBuyCars is incurring at least a R9k loss on it). Finding an automatic car in its segment that can fit 5 seats, whilst also being cheap to run and safe doesn’t leave much room for alternatives.
 
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I did this for COCT tarrifs and fuel costs. Excluding servicing as well because they all have different plans. But the EV will win there as well
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The comparison assumes 15,000 km of driving per year, giving 75,000 km over five years and 150,000 km over ten years. Petrol vehicles are calculated using a projected October 2026 coastal 95 ULP price of R28.46/litre, with each vehicle’s stated combined fuel-consumption figure.

For the Geely E2, electricity is calculated at the higher household tariff of R4.6906/kWh (incl. VAT) for consumption above 600 kWh/month. We assume approximately 13.8 kWh/100 km from the wall, which includes an allowance for AC charging losses. This produces an estimated charging cost of R64.73/100 km. No allowance is made for solar charging, so this represents a relatively conservative home-charging scenario.
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Tl;DR, if you are considering buying a car for around R270k, and it has a fuel consumption of more than 4.6 l/100km, you will save money on an EV after 5 years.
 
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