Travelling from Joburg to Cape Town - Petrol vs electric

[Foxhound5366]

This is like the 7th time this year this exact same article gets trotted out.

When is MyBB going to do some proper journalism and actually do a real world comparison where most cars, EV or ICE, spend 90% of their time, i.e. in city traffic doing the school run, shops, gym, etc.

I find it strange that a tech site is so unbalanced in its reporting about tech.

Probably asked ChatGPT for an article again.

 

[Dan C]

Pointless with 4.5 hours load shedding.

Your post is pointless. Do you really think the charging stations will go offline during load shedding ?

 

[JAD082]

Take the cheapest German ICE car vs the cheapest German EV car and do a practical 1 month trial and work out how much you save.. Then take the price difference between the 2 cars and let me know how many free miles I get on the ICE car before reaching the price tag on the EV.

Then take it 1 step further and work out maintenance costs over a 5 year period between the 2.

Then the last step for those who can’t afford a new car every 5 years, check at what point I will need to replace the batteries on the EV and what the costs are to do that. Compare that to the mileage I will get on the ICE car before its engine needs to be overhauled.

Not all of us have R1.x Mil in the bank to buy a car. That EV is the same price tag as my house, and I have to pay that off in 20 years..

EV cars are not practical yet. I don’t think they will be until the price tag and the maintenance cost is the same as a normal small car. I think by 2040 maybe..

 

[JAD082]

Your post is pointless. Do you really think the charging stations will go offline during load shedding ?

Your post is pointless.. Your argument is that the EV charging stations are not on the ESKOM grid…

 

[Botha22]

Your post is pointless. Do you really think the charging stations will go offline during load shedding ?

GridCars says 40% of their charging stations do not have generator backup. And even people with generators are struggling with the frequency and duration of load shedding, unless you buy a generator rated for continous duty. Your post is pointless.

 

[Dan C]

Your post is pointless.. Your argument is that the EV charging stations are not on the ESKOM grid…

Oh, so normal fuel stations don't use electricity ? Besides most places do not have 4.5 hours LS and the whole country does NOT have loadshedding all at once.

 

[Dan C]

GridCars says 40% of their charging stations do not have generator backup. And even people with generators are struggling with the frequency and duration of load shedding, unless you buy a generator rated for continous duty. Your post is as pointless as you.

I'm pointless ? Please read the forum rules.

 

[Johnatan56]

With the rough distance from Johannesburg to Cape Town being 1,400km, you would consume just about 377kWh of electricity in the BMW iX3.

Real-world:

BMW iX3

All details and specs of the BMW iX3 (2021). Compare price, lease, real-world range and consumption of every electric vehicle.

ev-database.org

So about 269kWh but that's a mix of city driving etc., highway should be getting 350km of range, would say you wouldn't go over 320km.

High-way on sports mode:

Dabei ist es meist der eigene Fuß und der Druck dessen aufs Strompedal, welcher bestimmt, ob und wie stark der Stromverbrauch des Elektro-SUV ansteigt. Im technischen Datenblatt sind 18,9- 18,5 kWh/100 km vermerkt, welche sich durchaus erreichen lassen, wenn man bewusst fährt und die bevorzugt die Sport-Modi nicht nutzt. Setzt man auf Letztere und gibt durchaus Strom auf der Autobahn, schnellt der Verbrauch, verständlicherweise, in die Höhe. Werte von um die 32 kWh/ 100 km sind dann zu erreichen.

https://www.elektroauto-news.net/2021/bmw-ix3-test-eindruecke-erfahrungen

Sorry, German, but this is basically worst-case it uses 32kWh/100, or about 480kWh, if you completely throw efficiency out the window, and this is probably German Autobahn going over 120km/h a lot, efficiency is terrible at that point.


Based on real-world, 1400 * 211 = ~296kWh, can probably up to 320kWh or so, or ~15% less power.

You'd need to plan the trip with fast chargers and stuff, so would assume 300km max range or so since charging port, but you'd not fully charge the entire time. Charging stats:

You'd not empty it that much, so would say add 45 min of charging each 300km, or around 5 hours for the trip. Think most would take two breaks on the trip, so not that significant.

That is also not a great electric car, there are better ones, South Africa just has crap options.

E.g. the MG G4 (admittedly a lot cheaper, not available in South Africa yet)

MG MG4 Electric 64 kWh

All details and specs of the MG MG4 Electric 64 kWh (2022). Compare price, lease, real-world range and consumption of every electric vehicle.

ev-database.org

The BMW x3 sDrive20i has an extra urban fuel consumption of 6.7l/100km, which means it would sip about 93.8 litres of petrol between Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Very doubtful you'd get that fuel consumption real-world, probably 7+, and you didn't calculate the aircon like you did in the EV.

And again, like others have said, EV excels in urban, you're using the car the rest of the year as well, you're also not factoring in service costs, etc.

 

[SHL]

We agree, you shouldn't go anywhere interesting. Instead, you should do the right thing and save the planet by staying at home and watching Netflix.

or sail the high seas...

 

[Virex]

Toyota and BMW in the same sentence ?
No man, you cant compare a Toy Jap Junk with a BMW.

That Jap Junk will still be perfectly drivable in 20+ years. Especially those Jap Junk Toyotas and that Jap Junk Hondas

 

[Pak Fa Fui]

This is like the 7th time this year this exact same article gets trotted out.

When is MyBB going to do some proper journalism and actually do a real world comparison where most cars, EV or ICE, spend 90% of their time, i.e. in city traffic doing the school run, shops, gym, etc.

I find it strange that a tech site is so unbalanced in its reporting about tech.

Which tech company is balanced, unbiased and honest
Netflix, Facebook, Amazon, twitter, Uber and the rest

 

[dj_jyno]

I know they probably used the figures that are available, but I wouldn't use the average fuel consumption for the calculations, especially with the Corolla Cross hybrid. Once you hit the open road with a hybrid, the fuel economy takes a nose dive.

 

[Botha22]

Oh, so normal fuel stations don't use electricity ? Besides most places do not have 4.5 hours LS and the whole country does NOT have loadshedding all at once.

Besides CoCT customers with it's pumped storage, MOST places do indeed experience 4.5 hours of load shedding under Stage 6, as recent as a few days ago. Even CoCT customers also experienced 4.5 hours of load shedding because there was insufficient time to replenish the pumped storage between load shedding periods.

 

[Dan C]

Besides CoCT customers with it's pumped storage, MOST places do indeed experience 4.5 hours of load shedding under Stage 6, as recent as a few days ago. Even CoCT customers also experienced 4.5 hours of load shedding because there was insufficient time to replenish the pumped storage between load shedding periods.

Whatever stage. It does not make the article pointless. There is no evidence that you cannot plan and drive from Jo'burg to Cape Town with an EV even during loadshedding.

 

[konfab]

I know they probably used the figures that are available, but I wouldn't use the average fuel consumption for the calculations, especially with the Corolla Cross hybrid. Once you hit the open road with a hybrid, the fuel economy takes a nose dive.

Not really. Open road driving is where you can get stupidly good fuel economy. Town driving is where ICE engines suck.

 

[konfab]

I was not surprised to find they did a theoretical road test only. Did not step a foot outside.

Some peeps did try and do a road trip in an EV.

Spoiler, it sucked.

https://cleantechnica.com/2022/07/0...0-from-cape-town-to-johannesburg-in-20-hours/

Now I am not stupid (citation needed). If someone made a plug-in hybrid version of my diesel van, I would have bought that in a heartbeat. A low speed, plug in hybrid with something like a 20km range would be insanely useful for just about anyone.

That would dramatically keep the fuel costs down, but you won't need to spend millions on a car with garbage range anyway.

 

[supersunbird]

Whatever stage. It does not make the article pointless. There is no evidence that you cannot plan and drive from Jo'burg to Cape Town with an EV even during loadshedding.

It will take longer than an ICE vehicle though, maybe even more so with loadshedding.

 

[Unreal]

EV etiquette question:
So if a friend comes over, and wants to recharge while we hang out, should he pay me?

 

[Johand]

Well the situation for EVs will get better and better. The government should sort out import tax on EVs (one of the reasons they are so much more expensive in SA). The number of charging stations will grow over time. And perspective will shift - an example from history - in many ways the iPhone/Android phones are worse than their Nokia forebears. Some Nokia phones had their battery life measured in *weeks* whilst heavy users of new phones measure battery life in *hours*. But the new phones brought other advantages and other innovations and they won out.

Same for electric cars. It won't be just the drive train. Simple things like new design options with more space. Safer big cars because the center of gravity is lower. 20-odd AC plug points like the F-150 Lightning.

Most of the R&D is going into electric cars. ICE cars days are numbered. They won't disappear completely, just like you can buy cheap 2G phones today still. But EVs will dominate.

 

[FiestaST]

Sjoe, high level of butt hurt peeps here