Electric cars. Love the idea or hate the idea, there's no denying that electric mobility is going to be a part of our future. As technology advances and battery capacities improve, the Electric Vehicle (EV) becomes a more viable alternative to petrol- and diesel-powered cars. Numerous manufacturers have already announced that they will stop producing Internal Combustion Engines in the future with dates like 2035 being discussed - that's not too far away!
Related: Best Electric cars 2022
While South African driving habits negate using an EV as your only car, it makes a great addition to the garage for those shorter trips and daily commutes. With the ever-increasing cost of petrol, the huge cost savings of an EV cannot be ignored. How would you like to cut your fuel bill down by 60%?
The one serious hurdle standing in the way of mainstream adoption locally is the high initial purchase price. No, it's not the power grid or load-shedding, it's the cost of electric vehicles. Because the technology is still so new, the R&D costs are having to be passed onto the consumer and sadly, that means that you and I pay more than we should be. This begs the question: What is the cheapest electric car on sale in South Africa at the moment?
New car
Currently, the cheapest full-electric vehicle that you can buy in South Africa is the MINI Cooper SE hatch. This familiar 3-door hatchback shape is no stranger on our roads and the MINI SE is fitted with a 32.6 kWh battery pack with a nominal output of 28.9 kWh. This gives the 135 kW MINI SE a range of 215 km (WLTP). It will comfortably seat 4 adults and whizz them along is silent comfort with a host of creature comforts to make the trip more bearable.
Charging the MINI SE can be done at home and it will take 2.5-hrs to charge the MINI SE with an 11 kW AC charger while a DC fast charger of 50 kW will see it charged from 0 to 80% in only 35-minutes.
Price: Starting from R709 400
Used Car
Used cars come and go. The pre-owned vehicle landscape is an ever-changing one and if you're looking for a deal on a used electric vehicle then it's best to bide your time and keep checking back from time to time to see what pops up.
We used AutoTrader's extensive filters to select a used car that is fully electric to find all the EVs listed for sale on the site. We then filtered it by price, low to high. Click here to see what's on offer: Used Electric cars, price: Low to High
Using this functionality, we were able to find a used 2015 Nissan Leaf. There aren't too many of these around and despite Nissan assuring us that the latest generation is due for SA, we're yet to hear when exactly that will be. Fitted with a new 24 kWh battery, the Leaf yields a 135 km range (EPA) and features regenerative braking to help boost your range. It uses a standardised Type 2 plug meaning that you will be able to use any of the public charging stations dotted around the country when you're away from your home charging outlet.
Price: R385 000
