Saving over R700 on a trip from Pretoria to the Free State in an electric car

gregmcc said:
And how many hours did you waste while waiting for the car to charge?
Click to expand...
0 hours, the previous article explains how we planned the trip:
mybroadband.co.za

800km South African road trip in Volvo’s fastest electric car

Driving and charging the Volvo EX30 on a trip between Pretoria and the Golden Gate National Park was a great experience.
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za

During the first fast DC charging session of around an hour we had breakfast, the most important meal of the day, at Wimpy. Also got to use my FNB eBucks benefit so free burger and chips.

The second time we were at the DC charger for about 20 minutes because that is all we needed to get home. Got coffee and chatted with an E-tron owner, lekker times. Could also have watched some YouTube and Prime Video on the screen but didn't have to bother.

All of the AC charging time was done either overnight at home or while we were exploring Clarens, one of the primary goals of our trip, where we also shopped and had lunch. Bear in mind we could have spent probably half an hour less there and would still have charged up to 100%.
 
Willie Trombone said:
What you also have to bear in mind is that as these things become more pop, you're going to be clashing with other drivers at the charge station. I wonder how accomodating drivers will be if you disconnect their car mid charge.
Click to expand...
I don't think it allows you to disconnect without authorisation.
 
Hanno Labuschagne said:
0 hours, the previous article explains how we planned the trip:
mybroadband.co.za

800km South African road trip in Volvo’s fastest electric car

Driving and charging the Volvo EX30 on a trip between Pretoria and the Golden Gate National Park was a great experience.
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za

During the first fast DC charging session of around an hour we had breakfast, the most important meal of the day, at Wimpy. Also got to use my FNB eBucks benefit so free burger and chips.

The second time we were at the DC charger for about 20 minutes because that is all we needed to get home. Got coffee and chatted with an E-tron owner, lekker times. Could also have watched some YouTube and Prime Video on the screen but didn't have to bother.

All of the AC charging time was done either overnight at home or while we were exploring Clarens, one of the primary goals of our trip, where we also shopped and had lunch. Bear in mind we could have spent probably half an hour less there and would still have charged up to 100%.
Click to expand...

I see there is no mention of the exact model you are using, can you please elaborate which model you are using in these tests?

1718025377247.png
 
Willie Trombone said:
What you also have to bear in mind is that as these things become more pop, you're going to be clashing with other drivers at the charge station. I wonder how accomodating drivers will be if you disconnect their car mid charge.
Click to expand...

Imagine you connect and go for lunch or visit the mall for 2 hours like the article mentions, and you come back to see some guy disconnected you because he was in a rush to get home lol

Nee dankie, petrol or diesel for me. Imagine trying to squeeze your charge to get to Harrismith or something on the way to Durbs and they're burning tyres so you have to take a 50km detour through a town that's not seen an EV before lol. Too much stress.
 
supersunbird said:
Thanks.

I wonder what it has:

View attachment 1723629

That this doesn't have (except 1 more airbag and EV acceleration):

View attachment 1723631

One can buy a whole lot of petrol for R275 000
Click to expand...
You are comparing the top of the range EX30 with the bottom of the range XC40, hardly a fair comparison, like comparing an 320i to an M3.
Bismuth said:
Do EVs not need to be serviced, like ICE vehicles? Or does this just mean no service plan is included?

View attachment 1723645
Click to expand...
1718030360631.png
I shows Maintenance plan included right below that.
 
Daniel Puchert said:
Saving over R700 driving an electric car on an 800km road trip

We recently travelled between Pretoria and Golden Gate National Park in the Free State and saved over R700 in fuel costs by using an electric vehicle (EV) instead of a similar petrol car.

If you are used to driving a petrol car, you will have little concern about choosing a fuel station to fill up. South Africa's retail petrol prices are regulated, which means garages charge the same prices.
Click to expand...
Well lets also factor in the cost of the hours of charging.
The cost of the base X30 electric is R775,900 (without the BS fees).

Over 72 months with a 10% deposit, no balloon and 13% interest you will be paying R14k pm.
To afford that I would say you need to earn 3x that amount NETT. So R45kpm after tax.
Average person works 20 days a month, 8 hours a day, which means each hour is worth R281.25.

Now if one was to calculate the cost of the time to charge the X30 we would need to factor in the cost of this workers time, then you would be looking at a total cost of R7,312 (give or take, I didn't account for 5 min). (The charging table shows the wrong total for the charging time... its about 26 hours).

But lets exclude the initial 21 hours used to charge the vehicle at home and you end up with a total charge time of 4 hours and 4 minutes, and a cost of R1,406 for the time.

Your time is a valuable resource, you should know how much you are worth per hour.

So if your time isn't valuable to you, and you can wait hours to charge your car then its fine.
But I am reminded about the story Jeremy Clarkson told about getting a call from his mother saying that his dad didn't have long, and he hopped into the Porsche he had for review and he flew to his dad's bedside. He got to spend 30min with his dad before he passed away.
What would have happened if his electric car's battery was flat? I can put in 100km worth of fuel in a few minutes, but a 100km worth of electricity will take much longer.

I like electric cars, they are as cool and exciting as the next Samsung Galaxy S or iPhone, but they have so many shortcomings that I think PHEVs are a better option.
 
What a stupid article - really. EV drivers are the new vegans.
I'll keep my V6 and my steaks.

oh, enjoy waiting at the Wimpy for 3 hours while your battery charges.
 
supersunbird said:
Can you answer the question or not regarding what the difference is?
Click to expand...
The EV is the "Ultimate" spec level and AWD, where as ICE is the entry level "Essential" spec level and FWD. I am not going to list all the differences between the 2 spec levels as you can get that on Volvo SA's website. But here is the cars.co.za comparison: EX30 vs XC40

The point stands though, there will always be major differences between entry level packages and top end packages, it is not unique to EV's
 
WollieVerstege said:
The EV is the "Ultimate" spec level and AWD, where as ICE is the entry level "Essential" spec level and FWD. I am not going to list all the differences between the 2 spec levels as you can get that on Volvo SA's website. But here is the cars.co.za comparison: EX30 vs XC40

The point stands though, there will always be major differences between entry level packages and top end packages, it is not unique to EV's
Click to expand...

Thank you.

Going through that list there are not that many specs that are excluded from the base line of one vs the ultimate of the other. It's not like one is the most bare bones of VW Polo Vivo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter