The number of new cars registered in the UK hit a 12-year high in January, with electric vehicles taking a record share of the market, as per the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

When I recently came across the interesting information above, (click here for the full article) I could not help but wonder whether we would be able to report similar figures on electric vehicles in the near future? I concluded that this is a pipedream. While electric cars such as the Nissan LEAF and BMW i3 are available locally, sales are meagre.

I have always emphasised that for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to be successful in South Africa, we need to make public charging easily accessible for customers. Presently, BMW and Nissan share charging facilities and both signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly roll out public charging infrastructure.

We are, however still a far cry from the infrastructure available to customers in the UK and Europe. There are 4,100 public EV charging locations in the UK, representing rapid expansion – from only a few hundred as recently as 2011. Europe boasts 35,000 charging points. Various websites like Charge Map and Plug Surfing assist motorist to find the closest charging points and according to Charge Map, there are currently only 11 such points in South Africa.

Current pricing is also a major factor in the delayed “rapid growth”. The new Tesla will be sold for a steep R530 000 at current exchange rates. The Nissan Leaf retails for R475 000 and the BMW i3 at a whopping R595 000. Added to this, is the limited travel distances. The BMW i3, for example, is advertised as 160km per charge.

Unless these stumbling blocks can be overcome, it remains my pipedream that the electric car market can make a real impact on our current car market.


We share the best used car sales for January 2017.

The top 5 used passenger vehicle sales per manufacturer (only IDA dealers on the Signio platform)

VOLKSWAGEN
FORD
BMW
TOYOTA
NISSAN

The top three used commercial used vehicle sales per manufacturer (bakkies)

RANGER 2.2TDCI XL P/U D/C
RANGER 3.2TDCI XLT A/T P/U D/C
RANGER 3.2TDCI XLT 4X4 A/T P/U D/C

Top 10 derivatives used car sales

RANGER 2.2TDCI XL P/U D/C
ECOSPORT 1.5TIVCT AMBIENTE
POLO VIVO 1.4 TRENDLINE 5DR
POLO 1.4 COMFORTLINE 5DR
FIGO 1.4 AMBIENTE
POLO GP 1.2 TSI COMFORTLINE (66KW)
RANGER 3.2TDCI XLT A/T P/U D/C
POLO VIVO GP 1.4 CONCEPTLINE 5DR
SPARK 1.2 LS 5DR
RANGER 2.2TDCI XL A/T P/U D/C

The average age of used vehicles sold in January was 4.75 years.