Hybrid vehicle boom in South Africa

The sale of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) has surged in South Africa, with over 13,000 units sold in 2024, a more than 5,000% increase compared to 2015.

This is according to sales data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), which notes that 13,604 HEVs were sold in South Africa in 2024.

While traditional electric vehicles (EV) solely use battery-powered electric motors, HEVs offer drivers the best of both worlds, combining an internal combustion engine (ICE) and battery-powered electric motors.

The electric motor can drive the car and run in reverse to regenerate electricity and charge its battery without an external source.

The car can then determine which power source is more efficient for the current conditions, either switching between motors or using the electric motor to supplement the fuel-powered one.

Traditional hybrids like the Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 Xi Hybrid do not need to be charged and generate energy from the ICE and regenerative braking.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), on the other hand, such as the Volvo XC60 Recharge, allow users to charge from an external power supply and are more expensive than traditional HEVs.

Compared to other new-energy vehicles, PHEVs have been in lower demand. However, sales of PHEVS increased from 124 in 2015 to 728 in 2024, a 428% jump.

On the other hand, HEV sales increased by 5,014% over the same period from 266 in 2015.

The Corolla Cross was a major contributor to total HEV sales in 2024, comprising nearly 75% of all sales in the segment, according to Cars.co.za. 

However, notable sales growth within this segment has only been realised in the past few years. Yearly HEV sales did not surpass 300 until 2021, when 627 were sold. This increased to 4,050 by 2022, and then to 6,495 by 2023.

Between 2015 and the start of 2021, 24,776 HEVs had been sold. This increased to 25,828 HEVs sold by the end of 2024.

In comparison, traditional EV sales have increased by 947% since 2015, with 1,257 units sold in 2024. However, this number excludes BYD’s sales as it does not report sales to Naamsa.

This adds up to 15,589 new energy vehicles sold last year. While this number is a significant increase from recent years, it represented just over 3% of South Africa’s passenger vehicle market in 2024 — 515,853.

The graph below shows the increase in new energy vehicle sales in South Africa from 2015 to 2024.

Switching from an ICE to an HEV

After switching to a Toyota Corolla Cross Hybris XS from a small-engined petrol-powered car, a member of the MyBroadband team calculated how much they save on fuel per month.

Their daily commute into work and back is just over 75km for the round trip, working out to roughly 1,650km per month, assuming an average of 22 working days per month.

In their petrol-powered car, a Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4tsi DSG, this would have cost them R107.56 at February 2025’s inland unleaded 95 price.

Over a month of commuting to and from work, these costs amounted to approximately R2,367.

However, it was noted that these figures were from driving carefully and focusing on fuel consumption.

The first few days of driving the Corolla Cross saw relatively high fuel consumption figures compared to the manufacturer’s claim of 4.3ℓ/100km.

However, after just under a month of driving, the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid’s fuel consumption figure now sits comfortably at 4.7ℓ/100km.

At 4.7ℓ/100km, the Corolla Cross Hybrid costs roughly R79 for the 75km daily commute, working out to approximately R1,738 per month.

This fuel cost saving is roughly R629 per month or nearly R7,550 per year.