Electric cars coming to SA in 2024

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Electric cars launching in SA in 2024

Motoring enthusiasts in South Africa have many new electric vehicles (EVs) to look forward to in 2024, including the country's first electric double-cab bakkie and new electrified Minis.

2024 will also see the launch of what could be the most affordable EV in South Africa — the BYD Dolphin — which retails for €25,000 (R522,118 excl. VAT and duties). A South African retail price has yet to be announced.
 
While Toyota, Ford and GM cut back on EV production as they experience too much problems with repair costs, resale values, reliability etc. Seems like good reasons NOT to spend money on a EV.
 
Article would be a lot more useful if it included the estimated retail price, lots of them have that info available already.
 
FiestaST said:
What are you talking about??

Click to expand...

Large-22100-SoulEVExplore.jpg


Is this soul? :sick:
 
The cracks are starting to show with EV adoption around the world.
Unprofitable charging stations, insane price increases for fast charging, awful resale value, astronomical repair costs, lack of repair centres, batteries that need replacement from minor crashes that leave uncertainty of their integrity, sub-standard infrastructure and training to deal with occasional EV fires, the risk of charging an EV in one's garage, valid concerns over availability of rare earth metals to meet the planned demand for optimistic projections... seems the list keeps growing each month.

It's kind of sad really, would love to have an EV for most situations but it's clearly still a rich man's gamble.

Then you have this:
"2024 will also see the launch of what could be the most affordable EV in South Africa — the BYD Dolphin — which retails for €25,000 (R522,118 excl. VAT and duties)."

Over half a million for a cheapie BYD.... if even the Chinese can't bring down these prices to a pleb level I don't see much hope on the horizon.
That is insanity.

These manufacturers also seem to insist on building all EV's with unnecessary expensive techno k*k on the inside... stuff that ages like milk and would guarantee that you can't get that thing fixed a few years from now if something on your monitor infested interior broke.

1705929504523.png

Why no-one bothers to just create EV's with simple, robust interiors and features is beyond me... I guess the "let's be Tesla" syndrome has a lot to do with it.

1705929664960.png
 
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RaptorSA said:
The cracks are starting to show with EV adoption around the world.
Then you have this:
"2024 will also see the launch of what could be the most affordable EV in South Africa — the BYD Dolphin — which retails for €25,000 (R522,118 excl. VAT and duties)."

Over half a million for a cheapie BYD.... no thank you.
That is insanity.
Click to expand...
Why wouldn't you sell your mortgage to buy a Dolphin? Do yourself a favor and check out the website, for some truly life altering specs:


  1. BYD DOLPHIN adopts the new 'Ocean aesthetics' design concept. The sophisticated outline of the bodywork, coupled with sharp crease lines and flowing contours, projects a confident and elegant design underpinned by an all-electric powertrain.
  2. Vegan leather seats.
  3. The design of the front and rear lights is inspired by the dynamic motion of dolphins breaching out of the ocean
    The continuous LED headlight running across the centre grille and the dynamic taillight design reveal a sense of avant-garde style and technology.

(spelling mistakes and all)

www.byd.com

BYD DOLPHIN: Agile and Versatile

BYD Dolphin adopts the new 'Ocean aesthetics' design concept. The sophisticated outline of the bodywork, coupled with sharp crease lines and flowing contours, projects a confident and elegant design underpinned by an all-electric powertrain. Enjoy freedom with the BYD DOLPHIN.
www.byd.com www.byd.com
 
RaptorSA said:
The cracks are starting to show with EV adoption around the world.
Unprofitable charging stations, insane price increases for fast charging, awful resale value, astronomical repair costs, lack of repair centres, batteries that need replacement from minor crashes that leave uncertainty of their integrity, sub-standard infrastructure and training to deal with occasional EV fires, the risk of charging an EV in one's garage, valid concerns over availability of rare earth metals to meet the planned demand for optimistic projections... seems the list keeps growing each month.

It's kind of sad really, would love to have an EV for most situations but it's clearly still a rich man's gamble.

Then you have this:
"2024 will also see the launch of what could be the most affordable EV in South Africa — the BYD Dolphin — which retails for €25,000 (R522,118 excl. VAT and duties)."

Over half a million for a cheapie BYD.... if even the Chinese can't bring down these prices to a pleb level I don't see much hope on the horizon.
That is insanity.

These manufacturers also seem to insist on building all EV's with unnecessary expensive techno k*k on the inside... stuff that ages like milk and would guarantee that you can't get that thing fixed a few years from now if something on your monitor infested interior broke.

View attachment 1650031

Why no-one bothers to just create EV's with simple, robust interiors and features is beyond me.

View attachment 1650035
Click to expand...
Where are these awful resale values? I wanna buy a second hand EV for cheap.
 
calypso said:
Where are these awful resale values? I wanna buy a second hand EV for cheap.
Click to expand...

I don't think we have even close to the volume in SA to see that yet... and even if we have, this place it notorious for being a ripoff even with 2nd hand cars, which makes it even less desirable to buy one here, especially a 2nd hand EV.
 
crysis said:
  1. The design of the front and rear lights is inspired by the dynamic motion of dolphins breaching out of the ocean
    The continuous LED headlight running across the centre grille and the dynamic taillight design reveal a sense of avant-garde style and technology.
Click to expand...

I'm more leaning towards the "cheetah dragging a carcass up a tree" design aesthetic.
Only reason I haven't bought an EV yet.
 
I would also love an EV, but with the current prices and issues every week in the news of them catching fire or freezing in the cold its not going to be happening any time soon
 
R4ziel said:
I would also love an EV, but with the current prices and issues every week in the news of them catching fire or freezing in the cold its not going to be happening any time soon
Click to expand...

Don't get too dragged into that mess though.
A lot of it is clickbait and reeks like Oil interest group money still lingering around.
That's not to say the fire issue is to be taken lightly, but it's so easily overblown, and as for them freezing and losing range or batteries dying, you're in SA, good luck finding a place where minus 20+ degrees becomes an issue.
 
RaptorSA said:
Don't get too dragged into that mess though.
A lot of it is clickbait and smells like Oil interest group money still lingering around.
That's not to say the fire issue is to be taken lightly, but it's so easily overblown, and as for them freezing and losing range, you're in SA, good luck finding a place where minus 20 degrees becomes an issue.
Click to expand...

I also forgot to mention I am actually way too poor to afford one, but would still like to have one. I know its just alarmist articles reaching the news, I've done a fair bit of research on EV's, they are just too expensive to buy and maintain at this point
 
I Think EV's in SA are only really going to get traction when somebody builds the electric equivalent of a citi golf or Suzuki Swift. Entry level, but practical and usable for the majority of car buyers. Current models only cater for the better off who buy it for bragging rights.
 
die_koos said:
I Think EV's in SA are only really going to get traction when somebody builds the electric equivalent of a citi golf or Suzuki Swift. Entry level, but practical and usable for the majority of car buyers. Current models only cater for the better off who buy it for bragging rights.
Click to expand...

That's what I'd also like to see.
Simple basic cars ... I don't even want screens. Just some needles or basic LCD displays to show charge state, regen/efficiency and maybe time to charge and distance remaining stats. That's it.
And definitely some serviceability and standardization improvements so you can actually still use the damn thing in 20 years.

Many of the old car to EV conversions I see on youtube look like more attractive options than the new car releases.
And chill out with the damn performance specs please, people are totalling these things all over the place, who'd have known that giving a 2.9 Second 0-60 car to a soccer mom can lead to some problems.
 
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