South Africans want electric cars — but only if they can do this
Many South Africans plan to buy an electric car in the future. However, most will only do so if it offers at least 500km of range, can charge to full in under four hours, and costs under R500,000.
That is according to the 2023 edition of AutoTrader’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Buyers Survey, compiled with responses from about 2,400 visitors to the car classifieds website.
AutoTrader CEO George Mienie said there was no arguing the fact that local appetite for EVs was on the rise, as evidenced by search trends, surveys, and sales data.
Mienie said the survey’s results were a testament to the keen interest among South Africans in buying new-energy vehicles.
About 58% of the survey’s respondents said they were “likely” or “very likely” to consider buying an EV in the future.
While this was down slightly from the 61% recorded in the 2022 survey, only 17% of participants said they were either “very unlikely” or “unlikely” to consider an EV, while the remaining 25% were uncertain.
The overwhelmingly positive attitude towards EVs came despite only 19.5% of the respondents having driven or been driven in a fully electric car.
Mienie said although the report showed consumers tended to have a less realistic understanding of electric technology, it was clear to him that South Africans had become far more aware and aligned with the reality of EV adoption.
This graph shows how many of the respondents in AutoTrader’s survey were likely, unlikely, or unsure about whether they would consider buying an EV.
AutoTrader also asked the respondents several questions about what they considered the most important features of an EV to consider buying one.
Battery efficiency, safety, price, technology, and lower cost of ownership were the most important characteristics.
34.7% of the respondents said they needed an EV with 500–700km of range, while 33.1% would be satisfied with a range between 300 and 500km.
However, a larger portion of the participants — 47.9% — were aware of the reality that most EVs typically provided 300–500km of range.
Most of the respondents had unrealistically high standards when it came to home charging speeds.
When asked how fast they would want their car to fully charge while parked at home, 31.1% said 2–4 hours, while 29.6% said 1–2 hours.
To do so in two hours would require 32.5kW charging speeds — only possible with DC power.
The fastest home AC charging speed one could achieve on dedicated home chargers with newer EV models is 22kW on a 3-phase connection.
Even with that speed, it would take a moderately-sized 75kWh battery pack just over three hours to charge from empty to full.
Volvo XC40 Recharge on 2.3kW AC “granny” charger.
A more realistic expectation should be between 7 and 12 hours for 7–11kW AC charging.
Considering the typical commute in South Africa is just 44km, most drivers are unlikely to require a daily full charge at home.
Despite many wanting the charging time to be shorter to consider buying an EV, 33.5% of the respondents knew it would likely take between 4 and 12 hours to fully charge at home.
According to the respondents, one of the biggest obstacles to EV adoption was the initial cost of the cars.
Regarding price, 41% of respondents were willing to pay over R500,000 for an EV, while 59% would not pay more than R500,000.
The latter decreased from 64% in 2022, 72% in 2021, and 74% in 2022, suggesting that people are becoming willing to spend more on an EV.
48.5% of the respondents also said they would consider buying a used EV over a new model.
Those who would not buy a used model gave reasons such as a lack of knowledge on battery deterioration, warranty and service costs, and uncertainty on long-term reliability and maintenance.
Tesla one of the country’s most trusted brands — despite selling no EVs in SA
AutoTrader also gauged awareness around EV models currently offered in South Africa and which brands consumers were most likely to trust as EV makers.
Most respondents knew that the three luxury German carmakers — Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz — sold EVs locally, with over 80% aware of BMW’s models.
Volvo ranked fourth, followed by Toyota, which does not currently sell any fully electric models in South Africa.
Regarding the brands South Africans would trust the most as EV manufacturers, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota were the top three.
Elon Musk’s Tesla was the only brand listed as a response on the survey that does not sell any cars in South Africa. Despite this, Tesla is the fourth most-trusted EV brand among respondents.
The graph below shows which brands the respondents trusted the most with making EVs.
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