More South Africans are switching to hybrid vehicles but few are opting to purchase all-electric or plug-in hybrids.
Traditional hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius combine an internal combustion engine with a battery that is charged while driving.
In 2021 just over 600 traditional hybrid vehicles were sold in South Africa. Two years later in 2023 this was 10 times higher at 6,484 vehicles sold.
In comparison only 1,147 fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold in 2023, up from 384 in 2021.
The most popular hybrid cars available in South Africa, according to AutoTrader, are the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid, the Suzuki Grand Vitara Hybrid and the Honda Fit HEV.
What’s in a name?
Traditional hybrid: Hybrid vehicles combine an electric battery motor with a petrol engine. The battery is usually used for slower speeds around town and the petrol engine for longer distances. The battery doesn’t need to be plugged in and is charged by ‘regenerative’ braking while driving.
Plug-in hybrid: Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles rely primarily on the battery for driving and the combustion engine engages when the battery is low. Plug-in hybrids need a larger battery that has to be plugged in to recharge.
Fully electric: Battery electric vehicles are entirely battery powered. They do need to be charged so driving longer distances requires planning around charging stations.
Global view
Although South Africans are taking to hybrid vehicles in greater numbers, the local market is far from developed by global standards.
According to the International Energy Agency, fewer than 1% of the vehicles sold in South Africa in 2023 were fully electric or plug-in hybrids (excludes traditional hybrids). In Norway a full 93% of vehicles sold are electric or plug-in hybrids and as much as 60% of vehicles in Sweden. (Source: Our World in Data)
Part of the reason for South Africans’ slow uptake of plug-in and fully electric vehicles is the relatively low number of charging stations. There are at least 400 public charging stations across the country, according to estimates. This is in comparison with about 4,000 major brand petrol stations.
Slow sales
Nonetheless, despite being a relatively small portion of monthly new vehicle sales, hybrid and electric vehicles are a bright spot in local car sales, which have been seeing slower numbers in 2024 than in previous years.
Just over 161,000 new passenger vehicles were sold in the first six months of 2024, according to Naamsa. This is about 13,000 fewer vehicles than the 174,000 sold in 2023 (-7%). (Numbers below are for passenger vehicles only, and exclude commercial vehicles.)
Financing
A contributing factor to the decrease in passenger vehicle sales is their rising cost. Data from Transunion, an international credit bureau, shows that new car prices were 4.7% higher in the first quarter of 2024 than they were at the same period in 2023. Used-car prices increased 2.1% over the same period.
The data also shows that the average loan for financed vehicles in the first quarter of 2024 rose to R391,000, up from R387,000 in Q1 2023.
More than half of the deals for vehicle financing are over the R300,000 mark, which has been the case since mid-2022.