Petrol vs electric car costs from Joburg to Cape Town

Topping up an electric car’s battery to cover the distance between South Africa’s two biggest cities costs about the same as refilling a comparable petrol car, an analysis by MyBroadband has shown.

We compared the running costs of the BMW iX3 (M Sport) electric vehicle (EV) and BMW X3 petrol (sDrive2oi M Sport) when travelling from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

MyBroadband performed similar analyses in January 2022 and July 2022 and found electric cars would be cheaper to run than similarly-specced petrol models.

However, on those occasions, the inland prices for a litre of unleaded 95 petrol were R19.61 and a record-high R26.74, respectively.

After the latest petrol price adjustment, motorists are paying R23.46 per litre of unleaded 95 when filling up inland, and R22.81 on the coast.

Previously, we also had to find petrol-powered vehicles that offered similar specifications to our EV choice — the BMW iX, the electric car with the best range in South Africa.

This time we could compare the costs of running two cars that were practically identical apart from one running on petrol and the other on electricity.

Since our previous comparison, the BMW iX3 launched in South Africa. It has the same basic design and features as the standard X3. Both are offered in M Sport finishes.

BMW iX3

The biggest EV charging station operator in the country — GridCars — has a network of over 300 charging points, including several fast-charging stations along major highways.

According to its latest map at the time of publication, it had nine charging stations located on stops directly next to the N1 between Johannesburg and Cape Town.

That does not count any other chargers requiring a slight detour into a town or city along the way.

Relying only on these chargers would set you back R5.88 per kWh when exclusively using DC fast charging.

Refilling the 74kWh of the useable capacity in the BMW iX3’s battery would cost R435.12.

The iX3 has a claimed average energy consumption of 18.9kWh per 100km, but it would be futile to use this for the type of trip we are considering.

Unlike ICE cars, EVs have worse consumption when only travelling on freeways, as you don’t get as much energy put back into the battery through regenerative braking as you would when stopping or slowing down often in town.

In addition, the outdoor temperature and use of air conditioning can also significantly impact the overall range.

According to BMW South Africa’s calculator, the BMW iX3 can only get about 275km of range in ambient temperatures of 25°C with the air conditioning turned on.

That worked out to roughly 0.27kWh consumed per kilometre.

With the rough distance from Johannesburg to Cape Town being 1,400km, you would consume just about 377kWh of electricity in the BMW iX3.

At R5.88 per kWh, it would cost R2,215 to rill the battery with enough capacity for the trip.

However, you could reduce that cost slightly by charging up the first 275km of range at home using an AC charger.

On Joburg City Power’s Block 3 domestic tariff of R2.74 per kWh, it would cost R202.76 for that first refill, less than half of what you would have paid at a fast charging station.

Subtracting that difference from the R2,215 means it would cost roughly R1,983 to recharge when factoring in home charging.

The BMW x3 sDrive20i has an extra urban fuel consumption of 6.7l/100km, which means it would sip about 93.8 litres of petrol between Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Based on the inland R23.46 per-litre price of unleaded 95 at the time of writing, that amount of petrol would cost R2,201.

This is just R14 less than it would cost to refill the BMW iX3’s battery using only fast charging, but more than if you started the journey with the EV’s battery full.

However, the BMW iX3’s relatively low range of 275km means you will have to stop at least five times to charge, compared to just once with the petrol-powered option.

In addition, your stops are going to take much longer, as even the fastest 150kW charger will take about 30 minutes to refill the battery.

Furthermore, the upfront cost of the electric car will be at least R1.29 million, compared to the entry-level price of the petrol model of slightly over R1.02 million.

The table below compares the running costs of the BMW iX3 M Sport and BMW X3 sDrive20i M Sport.

We’ve also included calculations for two of the most economical petrol and hybrid cars in South Africa for added context.

Now read: BMW launching XM hybrid in South Africa for R3.4 million