{"id":651957,"date":"2026-06-05T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=651957"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:04:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:04:54","slug":"r1800-per-month-saved-driving-an-electric-car-in-south-africa-with-petrol-prices-at-r28-06-per-litre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/651957-r1800-per-month-saved-driving-an-electric-car-in-south-africa-with-petrol-prices-at-r28-06-per-litre.html","title":{"rendered":"R1,800 per month saved driving an electric car in South Africa with petrol prices at R28.06 per litre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At current fuel and electricity prices, many typical South African commuters could spend 67% less per month using an electric vehicle than driving a regular petrol car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rapid increase in fuel prices has spurred record EV sales in South Africa for two consecutive months: March and April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmakers disclosing sales to the National Automobile Association of South Africa reported 947 EV sales in the first four months of 2026, up 134% over 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That number excluded the Geely E2’s sales count, which MyBroadband has reliably learnt<\/a> was the second-best-selling model in April, when it launched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demand could decline in the coming months if fuel prices stabilise. Based on current Central Energy Fund data, both petrol and diesel are set to decline substantially in July 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the price of crude oil, the main ingredient in petrol and diesel, is widely expected to remain elevated above its 2025 level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that year, MyBroadband found that running an electric vehicle in South Africa was typically around 60% cheaper than using a petrol car. That analysis was well before the latest Middle East crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband calculated how much EV drivers were saving with South Africa’s petrol prices currently at record levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Energy Agency’s data showed the average car in South Africa consumed 7.4 litres per 100 kilometres, while Numbeo found the average local motorist travels about 44 kilometres per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That consumption and mileage will require about 3.26 litres of fuel per day. If the driver filled up inland with unleaded 95 petrol, the most popular passenger transport fuel, they would pay R91.36. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That fuel bill would reach R2,741 after a month’s driving, working out to an effective cost per kilometre of R2.08.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EVDatabase<\/a> has recorded an average energy consumption of roughly 19.1 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres across hundreds of EVs in the market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To cover the typical commute in an EV, a South African motorist would consume about 8.4kWh, which would cost R29.90 on Eskom’s common residential tariff plan \u2014 Homepower 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the 252kWh needed for an entire month’s driving, they would spend R897, R1,844 less than when using the average petrol car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparison of average electric and petrol vehicle running costs in South Africa in June 2026<\/th><\/tr>
Data point<\/th>Electric <\/th>Petrol<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Consumption<\/td>19.1kWh\/100km<\/td>7.4\u2113\/100km<\/td><\/tr>
Usage per day<\/td>8.4kWh<\/td>3.26\u2113 <\/td><\/tr>
Cost per unit<\/td>R3.56<\/td>R28.06<\/td><\/tr>
Cost per day<\/td>R29.90<\/td>R91.36<\/td><\/tr>
Cost over a month<\/td>R897.12<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>R2,740.80<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gap drops with the cheapest petrol and electric cars \u2014 but still big<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The Geely E2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People who switch to Eskom’s Homeflex 4 time-of-use tariff can pay as little as R2.53 per kWh when charging their car in off-peak hours overnight. The 8.4kWh would cost R21.26 on that tariff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a more specific example, we also compared the monthly cost of running the cheapest petrol and electric cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cheapest petrol car \u2014 the Renault Kwid \u2014 has a claimed consumption of 4.9\u2113\/100km, although real-world testing has found it tended to achieve closer to 6.0\u2113\/100km.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the claimed figure, it would consume 2.16 litres per day or 64.68 litres in a month. The Kwid can use cheaper unleaded 93 petrol, which would cost R1,807.81 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most affordable EV in South Africa \u2014 the Geely E2 \u2014 also has a lower average consumption of 15.2kWh\/100km, although real-world testing has found its efficiency is even better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would consume about 6.69kWh per day or 200.64kWh in a month, costing R714.28 on Homepower 4 or R513.63 on the Homeflex 4 off-peak tariff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means the E2 would cost R1,094 less per month to run for a Homepower 4 user and R1,294 per month charging only on the Homeflex 4 off-peak tariff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Kwid is R160,000 cheaper, it beats the E2 in just one department \u2014 maximum range. Its 28-litre tank can travel 571km on its claimed consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The E2 offers 325km of range but delivers greater power output, substantially more tech and convenience features, more interior space, and superior safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would take about 10 years to make up the cost difference between the two models at current fuel and energy prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The argument for going electric becomes convincing when comparing the E2 to a petrol car with similar power and features, like the top-spec Kia Picanto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That car is just R15,000 cheaper, a difference that can be made up through lower EV running costs in less than 18 months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At current petrol prices, the average commuting motorist in South Africa would save roughly R60 per day driving an electric car instead of a petrol model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":651989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366],"tags":[87583,31960,67290,13871,80829,60225,104314,25033,82633,97212,51719,105717,55686],"class_list":["post-651957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-electric-car-sales","tag-electric-cars","tag-electric-vehicles-evs","tag-electricity2","tag-ev-sales","tag-fuel-prices","tag-geely-e2","tag-international-energy-agency-iea","tag-national-association-of-automobile-manufacturers-of-south-africa-naamsa","tag-numbeo","tag-petrol-prices","tag-record-petrol-prices","tag-renault-kwid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651957"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":652188,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651957\/revisions\/652188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}