Two ways to save on petrol in South Africa

Many South African motorists are likely seeking relief from the country’s high petrol prices, and there are two promising options available to them — switching to an electric vehicle (EV) or converting their car to run on liquid petroleum gas (LPG).

While fuel prices in the country are primarily driven by international oil prices and rand currency exchange rates, add-ons like the general fuel levy (GFL) and Road Accident Fund (RAF) significantly mark up the price motorists pay per litre.

Even the government acknowledges the disruptive nature of these add-ons, with Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe recently saying they have distorted the petrol price from around R14 per litre to over R20.

During his address at the African Oil Week conference in Cape Town in early October 2024, Mantashe acknowledged the recent drop in fuel prices but added that motorists will continue to feel pressure.

He said the government is looking to lower fuel prices further in the country.

“In the fuel price, there is the general fuel levy, there is the Road Accident Fund, linked to the price of fuel. So instead of buying a litre of fuel for R14, you buy it for R20,” said Mantashe.

“Our argument is: you are distorting the price of fuel. Let’s find the formula for separating these two things and have the price of fuel visible.”

“We intend to conclude this discussion in the shortest possible time,” he added.

After his address, Mantashe told reporters that his department’s calculations suggest that the correct fuel price should be R14 per litre.

However, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) disagrees. It said fuel prices in the country have fluctuated based on international oil prices and rand exchange rates.

“It’s all very well to speak of a petrol price of R14 per litre, however, that would require the Minister of Finance to remove the General Fuel Levy and the RAF Levy, which stands at R2.18 per litre,” said Outa.

“There is, of course, the issue of a further R5.16 per litre in the petrol price, which is made up of 10 other components that largely cover the costs of storage, transportation and margins for the retailers and wholesalers of petrol.”

Any intervention from the government will likely take some time to implement, but there are ways in which South African motorists can escape the country’s high fuel prices today.

Going electric

The first option, switching to an EV, has a high once-off cost, as the most affordable electric car in South Africa — BYD’s Dolphin — starts at R539,900.

According to the carmaker, the Dolphin consumes 15.9kWh per 100km on an average combined cycle. However, this figure will be significantly higher for motorists who do a lot of highway driving.

While EVs are generally efficient in low-speed town driving, their range drops significantly at highway speeds.

MyBroadband calculated how much motorists would pay to charge an EV to travel various distances monthly, up to 2,000km, at GridCar’s public charging stations.

It should be noted that there are two primary kinds of charging stations on offer — alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) — for which GridCars charges different charging rates.

Those who charge using its DC chargers pay R7.35 per kWh on average, and customers who charge their BYD Dolphin on these charges won’t see any savings over driving a petrol-powered equivalent.

In fact, they will pay more to travel the same distance than they would for a petrol-powered car running on unleaded 95.

Those who use the slower AC chargers will save some money over driving a petrol-powered vehicle. However, the savings aren’t significant unless you drive long distances monthly.

It should be noted that EV owners who charge using their home connection can save significantly more as they will pay their electricity price tariff per kWh, which is considerably lower than GridCars’ rates, to recharge.

The table below compares the cost of charging the BYD Dolphin at GridCars public charging stations for various monthly distances travelled.

Petrol costs for the comparison were calculated on the Suzuki Dzire’s claimed 4.9ℓ/100km consumption figure.

LPG conversion

Some companies in South Africa sell LPG conversions for popular cars, and customers can realise significant savings on such a system.

One such company is Isinkwe Energies, which sells and installs Prins Silverline VSI conversion kits for multi-point injection cars for around R27,500, excluding VAT.

Suzuki’s Dzire is a commonly converted car model. The Dzire 1.2 GL Automatic is available for R247,900, and the conversion costs bring the total price to around R275,400.

Motorists can expect to pay around R13 per litre of LPG to refill in Gauteng, while prices at the coast are roughly R1.00 to R1.50 higher. We used the Gauteng LPG price for our calculations.

The unconverted Suzuki Dzire 1.2 GL Automatic consumes approximately 4.9ℓ/100km. However, the conversion slightly changes its combustion figures.

Isinkwe Energies managing director Kyle Hartley previously told MyBroadband that the conversion kits cause the vehicle to run up to 10% richer on LPG, requiring 0–10% more LPG than petrol for a similar range.

Adding 10% to the Dzire’s 4.9ℓ/100km consumption figure brings it to 5.39ℓ/100km

It’s important to note that the LPG conversion effectively makes the vehicle bi-fuel, meaning motorists can run on regular petrol if ever they run out of LPG.

The table below compares the cost of refuelling with LPG gas versus unleaded 95 for various monthly distances travelled.

Petrol costs for the comparison were calculated using the Suzuki Dzire’s claimed 4.9ℓ/100km consumption figure.