South Africa’s Most Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Today
International oil prices are coming down from &@% &*# to Good Heavens, and hopefully fuel prices will come down a bit soon as well. But even a significant drop will merely move the needle from agony to excruciating pain. And the reasons for the high fuel prices have not entirely gone away.
No wonder cars’ fuel consumption has become a main selling point in South Africa. But cars are still lifestyle or even your life’s reality choices, and we have to compromise on what we drive because we need that, vs fuel consumption. If lifestyle was not a factor, we would all ride mopeds or bicycles or just stay at home.
The fuel consumption of your car will depend on a lot of factors, including your driving style, whether your service is up to date, the pressure of your tires, and even how much extra stuff you lug in your boot because you are too lazy to clear it out. If you are a work-from-home, fetch the children, do the groceries driver, you will do a lot of short trips with lots of stops and your fuel consumption will be higher. Likewise, someone who spends goes ten kilometres to work and then back in bumper-to-bumper traffic will use more fuel than someone cruising twenty kilometres on an open freeway every day.
On the whole, under 8 litres per 100km is considered good, between 8 and 12 average and over 12 high. But see the paragraph above for factors that may affect your personal consumption. The only way to guide us is to compare the consumption of cars tested under the same conditions by drivers with the same driving style. It also makes sense to divide cars into categories, to not compare an SUV with a compact hatch.
So here are the five most fuel-frugal cars, SUVs and bakkies in South Africa right now.
Most Fuel-Efficient Hatchbacks In South Africa
South Africa’s Most Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Today
- Toyota Aygo 1.0 – 4.3L/100km
- Renault Kwid Dynamique Automatic – 4.4L/100km
- Volkswagen Polo Vivo 1.0TSI GT – 4.6L/100km
- Kia Picanto 1.0L – 5.1L/100km
- BMW X3 20D – .4L/100km
Most Fuel-Efficient SUVs In South Africa
Most Fuel-Efficient SUVs In South Africa
- Ford EcoSport 1.5 TDCi Ambiente – 4.6L/100km
- Renault Duster 1.5dCi Zen AT – 4.8L/100km
- Volkswagen T-Cross 1.0TSi 70kW Comfortline – 4.8L/100km
- Kia Seltos 1.5 CRDi EX – 5.1L/100km
- Suzuki Ignis 1.2 GL – 5.1L/100km
Most Fuel-Efficient Bakkies In South Africa
Most Fuel-Efficient Bakkies In South Africa
- Ford Ranger 2.2 DCI Double Cab – 6.5L/100km
- Mitsubishi Triton – 6.7L/100km
- Nissan Navara – 6.8L/100km
- Toyota Hilux 2.4GD-6 Double Cab – 7.1L/100km
- Isuzu D-Max 250 Double Cab – 7.7L100km
What does this tell us? Clearly, the size of the car is not the final determiner of fuel consumption, if you were to compare Aygo with the EcoSport or Duster, or the T-Cross with the Ignis. And the big bakkies’ consumption is a surprise as well.
But keep in mind that some people prefer smaller cars, because they have less space to park and are easier to park, or they don’t need anything bigger.
So if you want to use this guide to find your new wheels, have a squiz at what is on the market right now.
