Ag what a shame … in the meantime, here is what the rest of us will get … I like the 782 km of the MB EQS.
… not.
In 2043 pre/pre/pre/pre owned (4th hand) … Range 200km
If money was no object… oh yes. Absolutely.
As I said in the past, I have my own car equivalent of the “Big Mac index” that I call the “Hilux Index”. If it costs more than a new Hilux double-cab, it is too expensive.The Hilux I consider the pick of the bunch, the 2.4 liter GD6, is around 570k now.
Right now, if I had to buy a new car, it would be the 440k Corolla Cross hybrid.
That’s the kind of pricing where I start to get interested.
Definitely rather the non-hybrid. The 2.5kWh NiMH battery in the hybrid is useless, and also the reduced engine power. It seems that they priced it so that they could sell more of the hybrids (upsell), but the cheaper option is a better car. I also think they have to sell them to get their emission numbers balanced across their entire range, which is why the cross seems so well priced.
All I need
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My HUGE frustration!
that and …
“No, they can’t go as far on electric-only power, but they still promise diesel-rivalling fuel economy without the environmental concerns. And because their batteries are small enough to be charged by the petrol engine, you never have to plug them in.”
from: Best hybrid cars you don't have to plug in | What Car?
I’ll happily sacrifice some range for that i7.
That’s the part I’m after. Because Toyota dropped the Diesel options for all their passenger vehicles. I understand why they did it, I really do, but I think I’d be frustrated with the lack of low-down torque if I had to move back to a petrol car.
Granted, on paper (I’m looking on Toyota’s site) the equivalent petrol model costs 30k less and makes 103kW peak power (vs 90kW for the hybrid), and the torque number looks poor too (142Nm vs 172Nm), but I think they didn’t provide the total, another article lists the Hybrid at 190Nm. I’m pretty sure that torque curve is going to be nice and flat though, and at a 0-100km/h time of 7.5 seconds, it’s no slouch either.
Unfortunately it also seems the very low fuel consumption number (4.3l/100km) isn’t really attainable in practice… so maybe I’m jumping the gun on this one just a tad. There is however a Cross Hybrid at school some mornings, during the drop-off, and it doesn’t look half bad in the default higher spec.
I believe that is the 2.0l variant that we don’t get here…
The resultant zero to 100 km/h sprint is not exactly quick at 11,96 seconds
(From the review:https://www.carmag.co.za/car-reviews/road-tests/toyota-corolla-cross-hybrid/)
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64 W/kg
Yeah okay! You convinced me. Thanks for spoiling the dream!
I’m kidding… I was only really considering this if the unthinkable happens TODAY and I had to look at another vehicle 
Now… not so much anymore, which of course is the point of the collective brain power of a forum.
Affordable my arse… Maybe at half the price. It may very well begged value for money, but for most people here, no not really.
ArmgatGroetnis
At the est R700K I agree with you, way too close to the Mini.
Not too long ago the Mini was selling for R653K
Even if they had to cut the range a bit I could deal with it, but this needed to be a max R400K car.
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I was thinking 450k would make it a no-brainer for me. That’s bang on Corolla-Cross Hybrid pricing. Which is no longer a car I’m interested in, but it is the kind of class of car I’d consider, and the closest to being somewhat electric right now.
At 700k it fails the “Hilux index” test for me.
I was really referring to this below, but anyhoo, only people at the top say 20% can really afford a car of say R200k.
According to Credit Suisse’s 2021 Wealth Databook, South Africa’s richest 1% hold about 41% of the country’s total wealth – estimated in 2021 at $763 billion. This is up significantly from the 35% recorded in 2019.
Wealth per adult in South Africa overall amounted to roughly $20,300 (R289,300) at the end of 2020, with an adult population estimated at 37.6 million. However, wealth per adult in the top 1% averages $828,000; among the top 10%, it averages $162,000.
Looking at the balance, the remaining 90% of the population controls only 20% of the country’s wealth and has a wealth per adult figure of only $4,500. This aligns with Credit Suisse’s data which records the median wealth per adult in South Africa at $4,523.
It is apparent from Credit Suisse’s data that South Africa’s wealth is highly concentrated among the super-rich. Approximately 80% of total wealth is held by 10% of the adult population – but the biggest chunk of this is held by the top 1%.
Groetnis
PS: I love me some data
It has also been said that a rich country isn’t one where poor people have cars. It is a country where rich people use public transport. Perhaps a little off topic, but a good yardstick to keep in mind.
It would be interesting to see what percentage of new cars, and of other ages, are bought by what income class. Technically, anyone on this forum with a solar system is in the top 2% already, and how many of us can reasonably afford a car that costs a million? 500k?
To be honest, I am disappointed to hear of the 700k price tag. It was initially rumoured to be 600k, which I also thought was a lot, but at least it undercut the current champion: The Mini Cooper SE.
I’ll continue to wait. But just like last time, I am beginning to wonder if my next car is going to be an EV, a PHEV… or simply another internal combuster. Because by my usual schedule, the current car has 3-4 years left under my tenure.
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Interesting perspective, but I’d argue that geography plays a big role here. I don’t think SA would economically be able to provide super rich people with convenient public transport, it is just too large. Even in the UK public transport isn’t a thing in rural villages (as I understand). It is a thing for the big cities (London) and its surrounds.
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Agreed, and that is part of the reason many Americans seems so foam-at-the-mouth married to their big “trucks” and against EVs. They really have a very large area of earth under their bums.
Edit: Granted, given the size of some of those bums, you probably cannot have it any other way.
The Chinese manufacturer Geely has launched its latest model: the all-electric Panda Mini. There are a total of four variants of the small electric car, which will cost between 39,900 and 53,900 yuan (around 5,500 to 7,400 euros) in China, depending on the equipment.
The Panda Mini is, as usual for the small runabouts, quite boxy and has a wheelbase of just under two metres. In addition, the electric car is just under three metres long, 1.50 metres wide and 1.60 metres high.
The four-seater comes with two battery sizes, 9.6 and 17 kWh and, according to the manufacturer, should have a range of 120 and 200 kilometres respectively.
MiniMiniGroetnis
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So around 100k before the government taxes it into oblivion. The Eleksa CityBug is in the same price bracket, and costs 230k ZAR.