The few hybrids and pure-electric vehicles offered new in South Africa all come with pretty comprehensive battery warranties. But what happens if you need to one day replace said battery out of warranty?
Well, as part of the 2017 edition of the Kinsey Report, Malcolm Kinsey included a new section on the cost of battery power, featuring eight sample vehicles.
“Prices seem very high, and doubtless will come down in time,” Kinsey wrote, adding that replacement battery packs can be bought only from the relevant dealer network.
According to Kinsey, the most expensive replacement battery pack in his sample in South Africa is for the all-electric BMW i3 eDrive, at a whopping R339 616 – or more than half of the vehicle’s R606 800 price-tag. A replacement 220v mains charger for the i3, meanwhile, costs R22 728.
The outgoing Nissan Leaf electric car is next, with its battery pack priced at R130 226 (compared to a vehicle price of R500 500). The mains charger, meanwhile, comes in at a more palatable R2 834.
At R124 000, the third most expensive replacement battery pack in the study belongs to the Mercedes-Benz C350e, a hybrid priced from R804 900. A mains charger for the C350e will set you back R22 170.
Next is the R709 100 Infiniti Q50 S hybrid (which cannot be plugged in), with its battery pack priced at R114 197. A replacement pack for the BMW i8 eDrive plug-in sportscar (priced at R2 015 300), meanwhile, will cost you R106 146, while its mains charger is shared with the i3 (and thus costs R22 728).
The Lexus NX 350 h (R746 700) follows, with its battery pack priced at R35 603, and the Toyota Prius (R457 600) next on R28 300. The Toyota Yaris Hybrid Pulse (R307 200) offers the cheapest replacement battery pack in SA, priced at R22 500. Note that none of the final three hybrids use a mains charger.
Note, of course, that not every hybrid vehicle offered in South Africa was included in the study (and that not all batteries are created equal). Various other hybrid derivatives from BMW, Lexus, Porsche, Toyota and Volvo, for instance, were not represented here.
