Motoring29.07.2022

Most affordable hybrid cars in South Africa

Car buyers looking to save on their monthly fuel expenses will find a wide range of hybrid cars in South Africa.

With the petrol price at a record high, it would be prudent to put fuel consumption figures front and centre when considering your next model.

While owning a fully-electric vehicle (EV) will free you from the mercy of the fuel price, it exposes you to other potential hiccups.

Aside from load-shedding limiting your charging time at home, South Africa’s public EV charging infrastructure is still primarily limited to major national routes, big metropolitan areas, and car dealerships.

You therefore have to plan your routes and schedule carefully.

A diesel car is already a better choice than a petrol-powered model when it comes to fuel efficiency, but because owners must service their engines more frequently, you might lose that fuel saving on maintenance costs in the long run.

Hybrid cars combine the convenience of filling up at a fuel station with higher efficiency thanks to additional power provided by an electric battery.

There are two main types of hybrids — a battery hybrid electric vehicle (BHEV) and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).

The former’s battery pack is charged using power from the engine, so there is no need to plug it in, while the latter can be powered from an external source like a standard EV.

Typically, PHEVs are more fuel-efficient than BHEVs, but both are lighter on the bill than conventional petrol-powered cars.

Toyota and Lexus lead the way

Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus offer the broadest range of hybrids in South Africa.

The Japanese giant is also planning to bring a Crown crossover model to the country in the first quarter of 2023.

Toyota currently offers the most affordable hybrid car on the South African market with the Corolla Cross compact SUV, which is priced at R425,400.

However, whether you can buy one of these at their listed prices is a different matter altogether.

Toyota South Africa has been struggling to keep up with demand for the car, with both the chip shortage and a natural disaster strangling stock and leaving eager buyers on long waiting lists.

Both the Corolla Cross and Corolla sedan hybrid are assembled at Toyota’s Prospecton Plant, which was flooded during the storms that hammered KwaZulu-Natal in April 2022.

As a result, Toyota had to scrap thousands of cars that suffered water damage, including some of its hybrids.

There are currently a handful of used Corolla Cross hybrid models available on classifieds like Auto Trader and Cars.co.za, but these are substantially more expensive than new retail units.

Another model you can get for less than half a million is the Honda Fit hatchback, which offers an impressive combined consumption of 3.7l/100km.

Honda recently revealed it was looking at bringing more hybrid models to South Africa.

Several more Toyota and Lexus hybrids are available from roughly R600,000 to just over R1 million.

Beyond that, buyers will find several Jaguar and Land Rover hybrids.

Among these, the only one affordable enough to make our top 10 list is the Jaguar e-Pace R-Dynamic SE P300e AWD, a plug-in hybrid priced at R1.3 million.

Although expensive, it could be an excellent investment for those who drive a lot.

It boasts the best-combined fuel consumption of all the models on our list, at an astounding 2.1l/100km, or roughly 48 kilometres per litre.

That means you will only consume around two litres of petrol for the commute between Pretoria and Sandton.

Below are the top 10 most affordable hybrid cars on the market in South Africa.