{"id":654136,"date":"2026-06-18T16:06:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=654136"},"modified":"2026-06-19T07:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T05:35:08","slug":"electric-cars-are-taking-off-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/654136-electric-cars-are-taking-off-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Electric cars are taking off in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Surging fuel prices and the first local sales reports from a Chinese automotive giant have pushed electric vehicle (EV) registrations in South Africa to unprecedented levels in early 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa, EV sales between January and May 2026 reached 1,454 units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That reflected a nearly 3-fold increase over the same period in 2025, when only 496 units were sold. It also exceeded South Africa’s total annual EV sales last year by more than 200 units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 89% of 2026’s sales have come from the last three months, a period during which fuel prices have skyrocketed due to the US and Israel’s war on Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many countries have seen a surge in demand for EVs as a result of disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a third of the world’s oil and petroleum passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, April, and May, EV sales in South Africa reached 1,293 units, 36 more than the whole of 2024, the previous record year for EV sales in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fuel-price-driven surge tells only part of the story. Chinese automotive giant BYD also boosted official figures by beginning to report its South African sales in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BYD’s product line-up consists exclusively of EVs and plug-in hybrids. 1,026 of the 1,293 EVs sold between March and May 2026 came from BYD. Volvo was in a distant second place with 106 units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering that BYD’s most popular model \u2014 the Dolphin Surf \u2014 has been available in South Africa since September 2025, its year-to-date sales were likely much higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 900 units of the Dolphin Surf were sold in the last three months. Its performance was likely helped by its highly competitive price tag of R341,900, the second cheapest of any EV in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Month<\/th>2025<\/th>2026<\/th><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
January<\/td>71<\/td>61<\/td>-14%<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
February<\/td>106<\/td>100<\/td>-6%<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
March <\/td>99<\/td>389<\/td>+393%<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
April<\/td>127<\/td>403<\/td>+217%<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
May<\/td>93<\/td>501<\/td>+439%<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Total year-to-date<\/strong><\/td>496<\/strong><\/td>1,454<\/strong><\/td>+193%<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One key player missing from sales figures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Geely E2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It should be noted that the sales figures exclude those of one company that may also be seeing significant growth in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geely, which is one of BYD’s biggest competitors in China, still has to start reporting sales after relaunching in South Africa in November 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company restarted its local offering with its fully electric E5 SUV and E5 DM-i PHEV and expanded the range with a major entry in early April 2026 \u2014 the Geely E2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priced from R339,900, it is South Africa’s most affordable electric car. While it only undercuts the Dolphin Surf by R2,000, it offers greater power, better range, and more interior space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reliable source familiar with Geely’s sales figures has told MyBroadband the country’s initial allocation for the E2 was sold out two weeks after the car’s launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we were asked not to share these figures, we can confirm the E2’s sales in less than half a month were enough to put it in a firm second place in April 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dealers are struggling to get their hands on stock, with some telling MyBroadband that customers must now put their name on a list and wait until late July to take delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to The Electric Mission, the cumulative number of EVs sold in South Africa by the end of 2025 was 4,502. The 1,454 sales in the first five months of 2026 increased that number by 32%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the actual number of EVs sold in South Africa to date may be far higher, considering several key manufacturers had previously or continue not to report their data to Naamsa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To try and get a sense of the true size of the market, Electric Mission also analysed EV import data from the South African Revenue Service and Lightstone’s AutoStats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmakers are unlikely to import significant volumes of stock if they have low demand for a car. In previous years, the number of EVs shipped to the country was relatively close to sales figures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in 2025, nearly 3,000 EVs were imported into the country, significantly more than the reported 1,257 sales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cumulative imports between 2013 and 2025 reached 7,940, significantly higher than the 4,502 sales reported to Naamsa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason for the big gap could be the lack of BYD, Geely, and Dongfeng’s sales figures. The following graph from Electric Mission shows annual EV imports to South Africa from 2013 to 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Electric vehicle imports to South Africa: 2013\u20132025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In just three months, sales of fully-electric cars in South Africa have exceeded the previous annual record tally. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":638093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366],"tags":[85881,36370,31960,67290,56194,82633,105918,64460],"class_list":["post-654136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-byd","tag-car-sales","tag-electric-cars","tag-electric-vehicles-evs","tag-geely","tag-national-association-of-automobile-manufacturers-of-south-africa-naamsa","tag-the-electric-mission","tag-vehicle-sales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654136"}],"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=654136"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654838,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654136\/revisions\/654838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}