Graham Downs

In case you missed it, here are the fuel prices in South Africa (inland) from today:

- 93 Petrol: R23.25 (from R20.19 yesterday)
- 95 Petrol: R23.36 (from R20.30 yesterday)
- Diesel 0.05% (wholesale): R25.90 (from R18.53 yesterday)
- Diesel 0.005% (wholesale): R26.11 (from R18.60 yesterday)
- Illuminating Paraffin: R28.14 (from R12.54 yesterday)
- LPGAS (per kg): R36.05 (from R34.97 yesterday)

#SouthAfrica #FuelPrice

Apr 1 at 4:59amWeb
Show threadGraham DownsApr 1
Note: This is *not* an April Fools' Day joke.
Show threadLeon CowleApr 1

@GrahamDowns Filled up today at $3.39/gal, which equals roughly R15.29/l. And that’s quite high by our recent averages, which were around R10/l to R11/l pre Orange Shitgibbon’s war. Hard sigh.

(Very grateful that Mrs Wife has an EV as she’s the one that commutes. AND doubly grateful that her workplace offers free charging! Can’t wait to join her in EV land.)

Show threadGraham DownsApr 1

@leoncowle We're very lucky that the petrol price at the pump is regulated here, meaning we've been protected from high petrol prices for the whole of March (As opposed to Diesel, whose *wholesale* price is regulated, but the filling stations can still charge what they like at the pump).

We were expecting a much higher increase from April, but the government decided at the 11th hour last night that they would drop the fuel levy by R3 per litre for the month of April, to shield us. But of course, now all the other political parties are jumping in to say that, while they appreciate that, they don't know how we're going to absorb that cost because we can't afford any more taxes. So it's a case of "Damned if you do, damned if you don't." :/

Show threadLeon CowleApr 1
@GrahamDowns Oh I strongly disagree that petrol price regulation is a good thing in any way. 😂😉 Deregulated prices will come down much faster than regulated ones (once this shit’s over) — and with regulated ones, there is a very real temptation by the powers-that-be to not reduce it *quite* all the way, and keep some of that sweet sweet extra revenue. Something competition in a deregulated market makes a bit more difficult (not impossible, but more unlikely). Also, prices here fluctuate daily so you can time when you fill up and save. AND companies can (and do!) run promotions to lower prices eg with rewards programs, or if you shop at the supermarket then you get money off at the pump, etc. And eg Costco is always by far the cheapest because they operate on volume, not per-gal margin. Competition in this space is awesome. Even have apps that give us the prices at all pumps in the area, so you can price shop.
Show threadGraham DownsApr 1

@leoncowle Yeah, I can see that. In *this* case it was lucky, but I can understand all your points.

Here, the main "competition" happens inside the shops, which every petrol station has. Typically, pretty much everything is more expensive at the petrol station than it would be in a supermarket (you pay for the convenience, because they're open 24/7), but occasionally they run stupid promotions, because obviously, most people are going to fill up at the same time as they go to the shops. :-)

Show threadPublic Enemy ExposedApr 1
@GrahamDowns that Diesel price! Now watch the prices on the supermarket shelves ↗️↗️ - and what goes up, does not always come down.
Show threadDeManiak 🇿🇦Apr 1
@GrahamDowns Looks *harder* at that BYD Dolphin Surf #EV
Show threadKim van WykApr 1

@kaasbaas @GrahamDowns we sold a diesel chugging Ford Ranger this week to buy a PHEV and feel quite lucky about the timing :-)

Our smaller Suzuki Ignis is very light on fuel but a BYD Dolphin is looking like a very nice alternative to it round about now.

Show threadDeManiak 🇿🇦Apr 2

@kimvanwyk @GrahamDowns noice.

which phev did you go for?

at some point, will also have to make a plan with diesel double cab here, but..baby steps.

Lucklily we don't drive THAT much.
but even then, these diesel prices are looking NUTS

Show threadKim van WykApr 2
@kaasbaas @GrahamDowns we've just collected a Chery Tiggo 7 Ultra PHEV. We slightly preferred it to the BYD Sealion 6.
Show threadDeManiak 🇿🇦Apr 2

@kimvanwyk @GrahamDowns snazzy!

May you have many trouble free KMs !

Show threadBig GeorgeApr 2
@kimvanwyk @kaasbaas @GrahamDowns what was the thinking ? Just looks ? I haven't seen a 7 yet but saw a sealion 6 last night
Show threadKim van WykApr 2
@BigG @kaasbaas @GrahamDowns looks didn't really enter it, externally they look quite similar. Chery offered a better discount and we preferred the bells and whistles in terms of driver comfort and various driver assistance features. We'd however have almost certainly been very happy with the Sealion too, they're both very nice cars and pretty much on par with each other. The bar was low though, it's replacing a 9 year old entry level manual Ford Ranger doublecab with hand cracked windows.
Show threadBig GeorgeApr 2
@kimvanwyk @kaasbaas @GrahamDowns my friend says BYD is basixally the biggest battery maker.... so you are buying good batteries with a car thown in.... thats a positive thing...
Show threadKim van WykApr 2
@BigG @kaasbaas @GrahamDowns I had the same thought and was surprised that Chery offered a 10 year warranty on the battery and BYD only an 8 year warranty.
Show threadDeManiak 🇿🇦Apr 2

@kimvanwyk @BigG @GrahamDowns now that is interesting.

BYD likes to brag their blade battery is the safest on the market - apparently their fav party trick at auto shows is a battery puncture demo - with no resulting "thermal incident".

FWIW - got BYD batts as part of the home PV system. Can't lay any faults there...

Cherry is a solid brand by now - if they are willing to throw 10 years on their batts, that does say something.

Show threadLeon CowleApr 2
@kimvanwyk @kaasbaas @GrahamDowns What international EV brands sound like to our (competition starved) American ears: enjoy your Chikka Floof Mountain Subgoo Extreme! (PS We’re jealous!)
Show threadKim van WykApr 2
@leoncowle @kaasbaas @GrahamDowns in this case I was choosing between the Chery Tiggo, the BYD Sealion 6, the Haval H6 and the Jaecoo J7, so it was at least the more pronounceable of the available brands. Jetour, Omada and BAIC didn't have vehicles in the range we were looking at, for a not-even-complete list of the brands that were not available here when you lived here (and possibly didn't exist yet).
Show threadLeon CowleApr 2

@kimvanwyk @kaasbaas @GrahamDowns Not a single of those brands were there (afaik) or like you say probably even existed yet in 2001. You were considered “exotic” and “brave” back then if you got one of those new fandangled South Korean “Hyundai”s! (Not quite, but nearly). LOL.

And also, April Fools was yesterday, you can lay off simply making up shit names of cars now. 😂😉🤣

Show threadBig GeorgeApr 2
@kaasbaas @GrahamDowns I have heard good things....
Show threaddbat Apr 1
@GrahamDowns jiss!