In South Africa, naamsa (the automotive business council) recently announced that NEV sales increased by 47.1% to 3 146 units in the first half of this year from the 2 139 units sold in the corresponding period last year after increasing by 421.7% to 4 674 units in 2022 off a low base in 2021.

And naamsa also announced that between 100 and 120 new charging stations would be added to the existing 305 that had been installed on major road routes in the country by the end of last year.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the sales of electric vehicles jumped 60.6%, continuing a rise buoyed by subsidies in a number of European Union countries. Full EVs accounted for 13.6% of all new car sales, up from under 10% in July 2022.

Plug-in hybrids, which have both a combustion engine and a large battery, accounted for 7.9% of sales, while one in four vehicles sold in the EU was a full hybrid.

Between them, petrol and diesel engine models made up just under 50% of sales. Diesel vehicles, which alone comprised more than 50% of new car sales as recently as 2015, accounted for just over 14% of sales in July.

Europe's top car seller, Volkswagen, posted a 17.9% increase in sales in July, while BMW and Renault saw sales rise 22.5% and 16.9% respectively.

But Stellantis, which has struggled with logistics problems and car deliveries in Europe, posted a 6.1% drop in sales in July.