Sub-R1 million EV roundup in SA

Hanno Labuschagne

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Sub-R1 million EV roundup in SA

There are currently eight electric vehicle (EV) models priced under R1 million in South Africa.

They range from the EV Africa City Blitz at R239,000 to the BYD Seal RWD Extended Range at R999,900.
 
Gonna hardcore disagree with BYD “gonna wipe the opposition into the dirt.”

I see them every so often in CT & I’m familiar with the brand but nope.

Until there is a Polo-size cabbie for roughly 400k to 450k with good range there will be no “dirt”.

You’re welcome to take me to task if I’m wrong I’m that confident I won’t be.
 
I'm. Gonna say it again.. The govt can't keep the lights on most of the time, and some people want to sell very expensive horribly polluting electric cars in this country? What part of this don't I understand.?
 
horribly polluting electric cars
Would they not by definition be not polluting? No exhaust and all?
It’s not like oil extraction and refining petrol/diesel is pollution free if you’re alluding to battery tech being somehow ‘polluting’.
Also you can charge your EV at home or at the office with the solar plant on the roof so you can skip the Eskom coal plug after all…
 
Would they not by definition be not polluting? No exhaust and all?
It’s not like oil extraction and refining petrol/diesel is pollution free if you’re alluding to battery tech being somehow ‘polluting’.
Also you can charge your EV at home or at the office with the solar plant on the roof so you can skip the Eskom coal plug after all…
That's the type of comments you get when users get duped by bot accounts
 
Gonna hardcore disagree with BYD “gonna wipe the opposition into the dirt.”

I see them every so often in CT & I’m familiar with the brand but nope.

Until there is a Polo-size cabbie for roughly 400k to 450k with good range there will be no “dirt”.

You’re welcome to take me to task if I’m wrong I’m that confident I won’t be.
Fair enough, although I'm thinking they're gonna do pretty damn good with the hybrid shark,I mean a bakkie with 100km EV only range for everyday driving will be pretty nifty if they get the pricing right like they did in AUS,let's hope the local distributors aren't greedy and price it under R750k...waiting lists will probably be in order if they do that part right.
 
Gonna hardcore disagree with BYD “gonna wipe the opposition into the dirt.”
...
Until there is a Polo-size cabbie for roughly 400k to 450k with good range there will be no “dirt”.

Add a bit of inflation... Will R499k get some dirt?

If you wanted a polo that has cruise control, massive torque and power and runs cheap I imagine you'd have to pay more than R450k?
 
I'm. Gonna say it again.. The govt can't keep the lights on most of the time, and some people want to sell very expensive horribly polluting electric cars in this country? What part of this don't I understand.?
Most people drive less than 50km per day, charge a car with 450km range once per week and you're sorted,maybe another charge for further runs and exploring on weekends.

Load shedding doesn't affect EV's that much unless you're planning on doing over let's say 250km per day as your commute.In that case EV's aren't ready yet you'd probably have to wait a few years for 800km ranges to be the norm.

Also government would be silly not to encourage EV usage,SA has no oil resources, we import billions worth of the stuff monthly, this also affects the rand strength.

SA on the other hand has rich solar resources which we can utilise to make ourselves more energy efficient and self sufficient.Its a no brainer, only reason they're delaying it and not subsidising it is because they want that juicy fuel levy gravy to keep flowing and in the process they're severely hampering our prospects of being a leader and future EV leader in production like China and other countries for example, there's even places in AFRICA ahead of us in this regard,we're really putting ourselves in a terrible situation currently by not being progressive and much like the ESKOM lack of foresight in 2004 we're gonna be suffering come another 10 years down the line because of this.

Very frustrating how our bunch of old greedy corrupt anti-progressive farts run the country.It's so easy to see what we need to do but they simply won't and once the ship has sailed we won't be able to gain that production advantage back as so many other developing economies are eating our lunch right now already with this.
 
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Add a bit of inflation... Will R499k get some dirt?

If you wanted a polo that has cruise control, massive torque and power and runs cheap I imagine you'd have to pay more than R450k?
Possibly imo.

The one thing we can defo agree on is things on the EV front (pricing) is a fair bit better than just 1 year ago.
 
Gonna hardcore disagree with BYD “gonna wipe the opposition into the dirt.”

I see them every so often in CT & I’m familiar with the brand but nope.

Until there is a Polo-size cabbie for roughly 400k to 450k with good range there will be no “dirt”.

You’re welcome to take me to task if I’m wrong I’m that confident I won’t be.
The article doesn't list the BYD Dolphin extended range, which is imho the best value of those under R1m. The standard range doesn't really compare
 
The article doesn't list the BYD Dolphin extended range, which is imho the best value of those under R1m. The standard range doesn't really compare
Also some pretty great deals on IX3's for under R1mil,yes I know the article was only quoting new,but a used ix3 is a lot of value for money.

Proper family SUV with tons of features and 450km range,drive assist pro included with some of them which is sometimes rated better than tesla autopilot, comes in handy on the highway often,just don't expect it to do miracles,it's like smart cruise control and by no means infallible so you still need to be alert at all times.
 
Also some pretty great deals on IX3's for under R1mil,yes I know the article was only quoting new,but a used ix3 is a lot of value for money.

Proper family SUV with tons of features and 450km range,drive assist pro included with some of them which is sometimes rated better than tesla autopilot, comes in handy on the highway often,just don't expect it to do miracles,it's like smart cruise control and by no means infallible so you still need to be alert at all times.
The fact that many respected portals/publications/channels mentioned the all new Gen 4 X3 (G45) took a quality knock & more cost cutting vs the Gen 3 (G01) also adds more appeal perhaps.
 
I'm. Gonna say it again.. The govt can't keep the lights on most of the time, and some people want to sell very expensive horribly polluting electric cars in this country? What part of this don't I understand.?
How is it polluting?
It’s a zero emissions vehicle.

And if you say because it polluted to manufacture it, is your petrol car manufactured out of pixie dust by the power of fairies? :)
 
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