“Switch it on, I want to hear it,” said my wife from outside the passenger window. We hadn’t left the driveway and already were showing ourselves to be newbies in the world of electric vehicles (EVs). As I fumbled for the switch, I recalled the morning’s briefing: no keys, no ignition, no engine warm-up. You get in, select “drive” and go.
The 600km trip through the Cape winelands and Overberg took in a few restaurants and country towns as well as a lodge amid the fynbos.
This time we’d be doing it on kilowatts, not on unleaded, to see whether an EV could make it on winding open roads without running out of juice.
The Volvo XC40 that whisked us away from a rainy Cape Town towards Franschhoek was on loan from Drive Electric, South Africa’s first car rental agency to offer a fleet entirely of electric vehicles.
It’s hard to find an EV for hire in South Africa. Mostly you’ll get hybrid models, typically the Toyota Prius or the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid. Drive Electric opened in late 2022. At first, it offered a small fleet of Mini Cooper SEs, but it soon moved to vehicles with a better range and wider appeal.
“Range is such an important factor,” says Chris O’Connor, Drive Electric co-founder and CEO. “The Mini had a 32kW battery, which in real-world conditions allowed for a 140km range. For a tourist market that was a challenge if people wanted to do a day trip to Cape Point or the Winelands.” The company expanded the fleet with BMW iX3s and the Volvo XC40s.
From the near silent pull-off at each stop to the acceleration (zero to 100km/h in 4.8 seconds) thanks to the instant torque that EVs are famous for, I was in love. Throw in a Harman Kardon sound system, heated seats and navigation integrated in the digital dashboard, and the Volvo was fun to drive; I almost did not want to stop for lunch at Franschhoek.
After an Asian tasting menu at Ryan Shell’s Ōku restaurant on the town’s main road, we could backtrack to Camp Canoe on the slopes of the Simonsberg. And the XC40 was as happy crunching silently along the gravel as it was on tar.
I could have plugged in to recharge, but we still had 200km on the battery and lunch booked at Delaire Graff Estate the next day. I’d chosen Delaire in part for the Japanese cuisine at Hōseki, but also because it’s home to a pair of charging stations. While we recharged over lunch, so could the battery.
Range anxiety is real. Though the XC40’s 80kW battery offers a promised range of 300km-350km — more than sufficient for town driving — you’ll want to monitor your use and range closely in the country.
The Volvo’s on-board software helped me adapt my driving for efficiency, with the integrated Google Maps calculating the proposed route and available range and indicating the location of nearby charging stations.
“We say ABC,” says O’Connor, for “Always be charging”.
He adds: “Plug in at home, plug in at the office, plug in at the shopping centre.”
The cost of charging varies. Drive Electric’s rental rate includes free charging for up to 200km a day, and there are 40-plus free charging stations around the country.
At home, you’ll be paying your usual electricity tariff of between R3 and R4 per kilowatt-hour. Plug in at a public charging point and you can expect that to rise steeply: anywhere from R5.88 to R7.35 per kilowatt-hour, depending on the rate of charge.
As important as having a network of charging points is is knowing where they are and which to use
That’s because the network of public charging points — more than 500 of them, at nearly 300 locations across South Africa — is run by private companies. GridCars dominates, with about 60% of the charging stations; Chargify and Rubicon are investing in additional locations.
It’s a significant investment. Installing an AC charging point that provides up to 22kW typically costs less than R100,000, but the more desirable DC fast-charging points can top R800,000. This is because they deliver between 60kW and 150kW, enabling an 80kW battery to be charged in under an hour.
Rubicon has the fastest charging point in South Africa, situated at Mall of Africa in Midrand. Providing 200kW, it can return an almost empty Volvo XC40 to full capacity in less than 30 minutes. It’s the speed and convenience that will eliminate range anxiety.
As important as having a network of charging points is knowing where they are and which to use. Here the online charging map powered by GridCars was helpful, with a live map showing charging stations nationwide, and details ranging from the types of chargers to whether these are available or in use or down for maintenance.
Leaving Franschhoek for the Overberg, the car had just 200km in the “tank”. I could see that the 60kW fast-charger at Caledon was working and available. We pulled in an hour later and had a coffee while the battery powered up. We left with a full battery and a 300km range for the open road ahead.
While gliding along the N2 to Melozhori Private Game Reserve (with its lodge in the fynbos), I mulled over just how much more I’d pay to rent an EV rather than a conventional vehicle. I would expect to pay more to rent an EV, but it is often cheaper than a traditional vehicle in a similar category.
To compare real-world costs, we looked at a three-day rental from Thursday to Sunday in late September, with collection and return in central Cape Town. Perfect for a long-weekend jaunt.
With Drive Electric, three days in a BMW iX3 would cost R1,990 a day, or R5,970 in total. There is no deposit and 200km a day of driving would be free, with any recharging covered by the rental. In the event of any damage to the vehicle, the maximum excess is R4,500.
For the same dates, Europcar offered a conventional BMW X3 for R9,825, with a R19,900 deposit and a R15,000 excess for damage. Ouch. If I were to drive 200km a day — 600km in total — at BMW’s stated X3 consumption of 5l/100km, I’d spend about R640 on petrol. A total of R10,467: almost double the Drive Electric cost.
Renting through Avis was slightly cheaper, at R8,388, and Hertz came in at R7,489, but with a R14,000 insurance liability. And still more than renting an EV.
Drive Electric’s Volvo XC40 at R1,490 per day makes the numbers look even better.
While the bulk of Drive Electric’s fleet is in Cape Town, largely catering for an inbound tourism market, 40% of its vehicles are in Joburg, where a different business model applies. There monthly rentals push up demand thanks to hefty discounts: a 60% discount on the XC40 means you’ll pay the standard rate for 12 days, and the rest of the month will be free.
“We have clients who have a budget for a monthly vehicle and don’t want the depreciation or the finance costs of buying. We also have clients who are interested in purchasing an electric vehicle and want to get a real-world experience before they commit,” says O’Connor. “Monthly leases give people a proper experience of what it’s like to own an EV. And it’s a top-end vehicle, so they get all the bells and whistles.”
But with just 60 vehicles in the fleet, Drive Electric is still a minnow in the sea of international car rentals. It’s a niche offering at the top end of traveller spending, targeting well-heeled locals and inbound international travellers with dollars and euros. Mass market penetration will come only when cheaper EVs bring the feasible rental cost to about R500 per day. That’s something O’Connor is keeping an eye on.
“BYD [a Chinese motor company] is bringing new electric models into the country within the next year, and we’re always looking for new vehicles with sufficient local corporate support,” says O’Connor. “At the moment the dealer and maintenance networks are not up to scratch for us to commit to fleet, but it’s a process.”
The Volvo XC40 rental in this article was provided by Drive Electric
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