Joburg to Cape Town - electric vs petrol cost comparison

Jan

Jan

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I'm not an expert on cars, but should we not consider pricing between electric and petrol/diesel vehicle. As far as my knowledge goes the purchase price (Capital) for electric cars exceeds the price you pay for a petrol/diesel vehicle. Yes, in this article your are almost comparing apples with apples regarding models one the electric model and the other petrol.

But take note, there are way cheaper cars than BMW's and not all of them have electric models available. So is the extra capital your taking out of your pocket to go the electric route not also something to consider in deciding whether electric is the best option?

If electric and petrol models were more popular I wouldn't even consider the capital amount, but as far as I know the current situation in SA we have to keep this capital expenditure in the back of our minds.

Lets use the Datsun GO as example, this vehicle is one of the cheapest you can buy out of the box. No electric model available either. Do you get an electric vehicle that has local support regarding service, parts etc in South Africa in the same price range as the Datsun GO? I doubt it...
 
Winner most certainly aren't clear, once factoring in battery replacement cost and therefore aging of vehicles, electric may actually have the short end of the stick. With these batteries likely to cost in excess of 200k to replace. The guy blew up his tesla due to high repair costs should teach us something.
 
klipdrifter said:
I'm not an expert on cars, but should we not consider pricing between electric and petrol/diesel vehicle. As far as my knowledge goes the purchase price (Capital) for electric cars exceeds the price you pay for a petrol/diesel vehicle. Yes, in this article your are almost comparing apples with apples regarding models one the electric model and the other petrol.

But take note, there are way cheaper cars than BMW's and not all of them have electric models available. So is the extra capital your taking out of your pocket to go the electric route not also something to consider in deciding whether electric is the best option?

If electric and petrol models were more popular I wouldn't even consider the capital amount, but as far as I know the current situation in SA we have to keep this capital expenditure in the back of our minds.

Lets use the Datsun GO as example, this vehicle is one of the cheapest you can buy out of the box. No electric model available either. Do you get an electric vehicle that has local support regarding service, parts etc in South Africa in the same price range as the Datsun GO? I doubt it...
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Kawak said:
Winner most certainly aren't clear, once factoring in battery replacement cost and therefore aging of vehicles, electric may actually have the short end of the stick. With these batteries likely to cost in excess of 200k to replace. The guy blew up his tesla due to high repair costs should teach us something.
Click to expand...

We should always welcome advancements in Technology. Yes, some will argue it is still better to ride a horse to town than driving a car... fortunately that did not stop the motor industry. What is a concern though is the slow developments in developing countries.
 
RedViking said:
We should always welcome advancements in Technology. Yes, some will argue it is still better to ride a horse to town than driving a car... fortunately that did not stop the motor industry. What is a concern though is the slow developments in developing countries.
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We are comparing apples with apples here and petrol will come out cheaper and more environmentally friendly in the long run. Obviously, if you want to change your car every 2-3 years like a cellphone due to batteries costing 70% of the car, then it's a no-brainer.
 
Kawak said:
Winner most certainly aren't clear, once factoring in battery replacement cost and therefore aging of vehicles, electric may actually have the short end of the stick. With these batteries likely to cost in excess of 200k to replace. The guy blew up his tesla due to high repair costs should teach us something.
Click to expand...
Kind of wrong, capital cost it's higher but service and stuff is way cheaper on an electric car, regenerative breaking means you'll rarely (if ever) replace the breakpads. Then cheaper per km.

By the time you'll replace the battery on the larger range stuff, most likely newer battery tech will be out.

I am hoping EU forces some legislation for battery attachment to rest of the system so you can go after market for the batteries, and you should be able to swap out some failing cells instead of the entire battery, Tesla is terrible for doing this when they're a trend setter for EV.
 
Kawak said:
Winner most certainly aren't clear, once factoring in battery replacement cost and therefore aging of vehicles, electric may actually have the short end of the stick. With these batteries likely to cost in excess of 200k to replace. The guy blew up his tesla due to high repair costs should teach us something.
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It's a fair question over the life of the vehicle... what is the estimated life of a battery?
 
All I have to say is this.

Price of a BMW X5 whatever battery R2000

Price to replace the electric one's batteries so every 5 years... about R250k

The electric model isnt an M but a standard X5. So the Electric is 600k more than that one.

So yes together you have about R848 000 to spend on fuel. Which is about R14133pm during its 5 year lifecycle.

And the best part.

The last time an electric vehicle travelled the distance, they had to abandon it along the way....why? Someone stole the power cable for charging it at the one charging point. Yip we will see that happen often.

Ah but before I forget..... how many mechanics in Africa can actually fix the IX. You may laugh here, but to be totally honest not many. Especially not if youre in the bush. When the X5 came out originally, my friend bought one to replace his Range Rover. It lasted 1 trip till it broke, near Botswana. He had to get it towed all the way back to CT. Luckily they fixed it quick, and he was able to trade it in for a Range Rover and drive all the way back to keep enjoying his trip.

And lastly, the BMW i3 is actually a failure. Here they may not tell you, but it is.
 
Solitude said:
I don't know much about electric cars... but there's solar panels on the roof, right? If not, why not?
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It would take over a week to charge..

From the article:
That translates to an economy of about 3.75km/kWh, based on the battery’s useable capacity of 105.2kWh.
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So if you could somehow fit 1.5Kw of solar panels on the car, it would take 70 hours to charge.. Let's say you get 8 hours sunlight = 8.75 days to charge...
 
Solitude said:
I don't know much about electric cars... but there's solar panels on the roof, right? If not, why not?
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Sasha-Muir-and-Margaret-Davidson.jpg
 
LazyLion said:
It's a fair question over the life of the vehicle... what is the estimated life of a battery?
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Seems like most teslas are about 8 years so I would say about 2 batteries for the life of the vehicle seems pretty fair.
 
RedViking said:
We should always welcome advancements in Technology. Yes, some will argue it is still better to ride a horse to town than driving a car... fortunately that did not stop the motor industry. What is a concern though is the slow developments in developing countries.
Click to expand...
It's the same in advanced countries, That Tesla was in Finland, a first world, European, ultra high income country with green credentials and everything. Loads of people in the US are ranting on Tesla as well for their repair costs, some went as far and stripping it apart and piecing it together themselves.

For every time I hear that electric vehicles have less parts and are easier, therefore cheaper to maintain, I ask about Tesla, I'm no mechanic so my wallet is the best guide and so far, the evidence is clear.
 
Johnatan56 said:
Kind of wrong, capital cost it's higher but service and stuff is way cheaper on an electric car, regenerative breaking means you'll rarely (if ever) replace the breakpads. Then cheaper per km.

By the time you'll replace the battery on the larger range stuff, most likely newer battery tech will be out.

I am hoping EU forces some legislation for battery attachment to rest of the system so you can go after market for the batteries, and you should be able to swap out some failing cells instead of the entire battery, Tesla is terrible for doing this when they're a trend setter for EV.
Click to expand...
What you're saying makes sense especially standardisation, but, so far it's proven to be more expensive to maintain an EV, also, I'd guess there are still brake pads, my understanding with regenerative braking, its basically a dynamo / generator hooked onto the wheels so braking by magnetic field when engaged (eddy current?) Will that really be enough to stop a fast moving vehicle?
 
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