Thursday, April 20, 2017

What current electric cars should come to South Africa?

As I've mentioned many times before on this blog there are at present on two fully electric cars on sale in South Africa. The Nissan Leaf and BMW i3. Other car manufacturers with a significant presence in the country also produce electric vehicles but choose not to sell them in SA. I thought I'd make a list of electric vehicles that could be available in the country if the local distributors and manufacturers chose to import them or assemble them here.
  1. Chevy Bolt
    Released late in 2016 the Bolt is the first non-Tesla electric car to have a range of over 200 miles on a single charge. At $37,500 (R518,966) it's also substantially cheaper than the base Model S70 which at the moment is Tesla's entry model at R71,200 (R985,343). The Bolt has a 60kWh battery and a maximum range of 238 miles (383km). More than enough to drive from Durban to Johannesburg with only one charging stop. Unfortunately though there are no plans at the present to bring the Chevy Bolt to South Africa
  2. Hyundai Ioniq
    The Ioniq comes in three guises, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric. Of course we are interested in the latter which with a 28kWh battery can achieve 200km on a single charge. This makes the Ioniq one of the most efficient electric cars around. The price of the Ioniq is also very competitive at £24,995 (R431,475).

  3.  Kia Soul EV
    The Kia Soul EV is the electric version of Kia's crossover vehicle. It has a 27kWh battery which is good for 150km on a single charge. The price in the UK is £29,995 (R504,699).




  4.  Smart Fortwo Electric Drive
    I can't think of a car that looks more like it should be an electric car than the Smart Fortwo. This small city car has a 17.6kWH battery that will get you 160km before you need to recharge. That's further than many bigger EV's on the market right now. It's also one of the more affordable EV's at this time. In the US it's selling for $25,750 (R338,545)
  5. Volkswagen e-Golf
    The electric version of the perennially popular VW Golf.  The e-Golf utilizes a 134-hp 100-kWh electric motor powered by a 35.8-kWh lithium-ion battery. The EPA estimates 200km of range on a single charge. Prices start in the UK at £31,680 (R532,933)

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