10 cars that cost under R1 per kilometre to drive

In today’s economic climate it is more important than ever to save costs wherever you can, with a fuel-efficient vehicle being one way you can trim the fat from your budget.

If you’re looking for a car that will cost you, say, less than R1 per kilometre to drive, you are in luck.

There are several options on offer in the new market today from a host of brands that all boast class-leading consumption figures that will have you spend no more than R100 for every 100km you travel.

R1 warriors

At the June 2024 prices of R23.31 per litre for petrol 93, a vehicle running on this type of fuel must provide an average burn rate of 4.3 litres per 100km to get below the R1-per-km barrier.

For diesel, which currently goes for R20.96 per litre for the 500ppm grade, you’re looking for a car that consumes less than 4.8 litres of propellant every 100km.

For this comparison, we did not look at high-end hybrids like the Range Rover P460e or Porsche Panamera e-hybrid that claim to achieve consumption ratings of just 0.7l/100km and 1.7l/100km, respectively.

Not only are they out of reach of the average consumer, but their purported fuel usage figures are all but unobtainable in the real world unless the vast majority of your travels are completed on electricity alone, which is a difficult feat to accomplish to say the least.

The following table details five petrol cars that are currently on sale achieving a cost-per-kilometre of no more than R1:

The table below shows five diesel cars that are currently on sale offering a cost-per-kilometre of R1 or less: