
One aspect that is keeping many South Africans on the fence about electric vehicles (EVs) is concerns about their maximum driving range.
A recent TopAuto survey found that 71% of South African respondents would only consider purchasing an EV that could do a minimum of 200km on a single charge.
This is despite the fact that the average respondent drives less than 50km a day.
The term “range anxiety” is used to describe this phenomenon, in which an EV driver feels that if their battery charge gets low, a source of power to recharge the car will not be available, according to J.D. Power.
“It sparks a fear of getting stranded somewhere, which adds time, inconvenience, and stress to a journey. Studies show that driving range and a lack of charging infrastructure are the primary reasons people do not consider EVs when buying a new vehicle.”
Electric vs Petrol
To see what contributes to “range anxiety” in South Africa, we looked at the maximum driving ranges of all the EVs currently available in South Africa compared to those of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles which cost the same.
The results are detailed in the table below.
R200,000 Price Bracket | Range Per Charge/Tank |
---|---|
Eleksa CityBug | 100km |
Suzuki Ignis 1.2 GLX | 628km |
R700,000 Price Bracket | Range Per Charge/Tank |
Mini Cooper SE Hatch | 217km |
Mini Cooper S Countryman | 785km |
R1,200,000 Price Bracket | Range Per Charge/Tank |
Volvo XC40 P8 Recharge | 418km |
Mercedes Benz GLC300d Coupe 4Matic AMG Line | 1,100km |
R1,600,000 Price Bracket | Range Per Charge/Tank |
BMW iX xDrive40 | 425km |
Audi Q8 45TDI Quattro | 962km |
R3,000,000 Price Bracket | Range Per Charge/Tank |
Audi RS e-tron GT Quattro | 472km |
Porsche Panamera Turbo S | 833km |
What this table shows is there is still a large discrepancy in range between EVs and their ICE counterparts.
Even the cheapest petrol vehicle on the list, the Suzuki Ignis 1.2 GLX (R230,900), has a better range than the most expensive EV available in South Africa – the Porsche Taycan Turbo S (R4,061,000).
While only one car falls short of the 200km minimum demanded by the majority of respondents, the first car on the list to do over 200km on a single charge, the Mini Cooper SE Hatch, has an asking price of R709,400.
This makes the barrier to entry for EVs incredibly high for those who may be interested in adopting the technology and are concerned about driving range.
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