Motoring24.08.2022

Electric vehicle sales on the up in South Africa — most popular models and pricing

By Myles Illidge

The uptake of fully electric vehicles (EVs) has been slow in South Africa, but data from the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) reveals that sales are rising.

With 205 fully electric vehicles sold by mid-year, sales will likely exceed last year’s when 218 EVs were sold across the country.

Naamsa released sales data for new energy vehicles (NEVs), which encompass traditional and plug-in hybrids in addition to fully electric cars, in its second-quarter business review for 2022.

Fewer NEVs were sold in South Africa during the second quarter (Q2) of 2022 compared to the first quarter.

However, 1,241 more NEVs were sold in South Africa in the first half of 2022 than during the entirety of 2021.

“During the second quarter 2022, new energy vehicle (NEV) sales by 13 industry brands declined by 47,3% from 1,401 units in the first quarter to 738 units in the second quarter 2022,” Naamsa’s stated.

“However, for the first half of 2022, a total of 2,139 NEVs have been sold compared to the 896 NEVs sold during the full year 2021.”

It should be noted that there is a minor addition error in Naamsa’s NEV sales figures for Q2 2022.

There were 736 NEVs sold during the quarter, rather than the 738 stated, bringing the year-to-date total for 2022 to 2,137 rather than 2,139.

Owners of fully electric vehicles in South Africa have more charging points across the country from which to choose.

Audi and GridCars, have expanded their charging network for electric vehicles and installed the first ultra-fast 150kW chargers in South Africa.

Not all the new charging points are ultra-fast chargers. Some are 22kW (AC) and 80kW (DC).

Audi said the 150kW DC chargers could add 340km of driving range in around 30 minutes, while the 80kW DC units can add approximately 185km in the same time.

The 22kW dual AC charging stations can top up batteries with around 100km of electric range in about an hour of charging.

South Africa’s local automotive industry still enjoys substantial income from manufacturing internal combustion engine vehicles in South Africa.

However, TopAuto reports that an Automotive Green Paper from the department of trade industry and competition represents a call to kickstart EV production in South Africa.

The number of NEVs sold in South Africa from 2017 until Q2 2022 is provided in the table below.

New energy vehicle (NEV) sales 2017 to Q2 2022
Vehicle type	Year 2017	Year 2018	Year 2019	Year 2020	Year 2021	Q1 2022	Q2 2022
Plug-in hybrid	121	89	72	77	51	32	50
Traditional hybrid	182	55	181	155	627	1,257	593
Electric	68	58	154	92	218	112	93
Total NEVs	371	202	407	324	896	1,401	736

Popular EVs in South Africa

Data from South African vehicle classifieds website AutoTrader shows an increased interest in electric cars in the country.

The most searched for and viewed EV on the platform this year was the Audi RS e-tron GT, which retails new for R3,300,000. The BMW i3 closely followed it.

However, it should be noted that BMW discontinued the i3 earlier this year, according to a TopAuto report.

Other popular EVs in South Africa include the Porsche Taycan, Jaguar i-Pace, and BMW iX xDrive40.

The most-popular EVs in South Africa, according to AutoTrader’s data, are listed with their prices below.