While Tesla has long dominated the electric vehicle (EV) conversation, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of shake-ups, fresh contenders, and budget-friendly options that challenge the status quo.

A recent analysis by Value My Cart that looked at global search interest and market expectations, has revealed what they are calling the top 10 most anticipated EVs of 2025.

In their methodology, they explain that in selecting their overall list of EV models, they compiled a list of upcoming EVs set to be released in 2025 based on manufacturer announcements, automotive industry reports, and credible news sources. To measure consumer interest, they gathered search data from Google Keyword Planner for each model as of January 2025. 

Vehicles were then ranked based on their search volume, and the list — which includes a mix of compact city cars, luxury SUVs, and powerful electric bakkies — reflects the most searched or most anticipated models.

So, which EVs are people most excited about?

EVs may seem something far removed from the South African imagination because of the country’s long-established electricity supply problems, but recent developments may see more low and zero-emission vehicles on South Africa’s roads in the future.

As of May 2024, the latest sales figures from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa revealed that customers bought 3,042 new energy vehicles in the first quarter of 2024, which is up by 82.7% from the 1,665 units sold in the same period last year.

Still, these numbers pale in comparison to the tens of thousands sold in developed and more mature markets with the International Energy Agency predicting as many as 17 million EVs would be sold globally in 2024, growing on the nearly 14 million in 2023.  

Similarly, South Africa’s domestic production capacities are also only recently catching up.

Daily Maverick recently reported that in October 2024, BMW started the production of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle — the X3 30e xDrive — at its Rosslyn plant north of Pretoria. 

Despite EV sales growing globally, South Africa’s EV market remains in its infancy.

Plug-in hybrids

Before the BMW plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, only Toyota manufactured the Corolla Cross Hybrid at its Prospecton plant in Durban, while Mercedes-Benz built the C-Class plug-in hybrid at its East London facility, producing the C350e for local and export markets. Ford is investing R5.2-billion in the Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria for the production of the first Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid from late 2024.

The Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition has sought to address these challenges noting in its November 2023  Electric Vehicles White Paper that the global automotive industry is “undergoing one of the most seismic shifts in its nearly 150-year history” and provides South Africa with a “major industrialisation opportunity”. 

Read more: This electric vehicle myth refuses to die, because it’s so hard to pick apart

Even more recently, on 24 December 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill into law with an amendment of section 12 of the Income Tax Act. Daily Maverick previously reported that the section provides a 150% tax deduction of the cost of certain parts and assets used by automotive manufacturers in the production of electric battery-powered or hydrogen-powered vehicles in South Africa.

Mitigation efforts

Electric vehicles are a key part of South Africa’s mitigation efforts in the climate space. According to South Africa’s 9th National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, published in May last year, the second largest source of emissions from fuel combustion activities was the transport sector, which was “largely dominated by emissions from road transportation”.

More specifically, the South African transport sector represents the third highest emissions contributor (57 Mt of CO₂ per annum or 10.8% of national greenhouse gas emissions) to South Africa’s carbon emissions profile, as detailed in South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan.

“Of these emissions, road transport is responsible for 91.2%,” the authors wrote. DM