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

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
R350k cash, "low cost vehicle", sorry mate you live in a different world from me.
 
R350k cash, "low cost vehicle", sorry mate you live in a different world from me.
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.
 
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
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.
 
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.
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.
 
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.
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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