Several car manufacturers require that their electric vehicle (EV) models be serviced more regularly in South Africa than in other countries, analysis by MyBroadband shows.

One of the biggest appeals of EV ownership is that electric cars have fewer parts that can wear or break down over time.

That means they generally require less maintenance than petrol or diesel models.

The primary parts of EVs that need servicing or replacement are the pollen and air filters, brake fluid, and battery coolant.

Tires also need to be rotated every year and replaced when worn, as do brake pads and discs.

With internal combustion engine models, additional maintenance components — including engine oil and oil filters, timing belts, spark plugs, transmission fluids, and

MyBroadband perused the servicing intervals of the eight top sellers of EVs in South Africa to see how regularly they needed to be serviced.

The South African divisions of Audi, Porsche, and Volvo require that their EVs be serviced every two years or 30,000km, whichever comes first.

This is roughly in line with policies in the United Kingdom, a market with a much more mature EV market.

In that country, these three manufacturers require that their models be serviced every two years or 20,000 miles (32,200km).

BMW Group only requires EV owners to bring their cars in for service when the onboard computer determines this is necessary. This also applies to the group’s Mini electric models.

BMW said notifications for servicing will typically pop up every two years.

The owner of South Africa’s highest-mileage EV — a BMW i3 — recently told MyBroadband he has only done a major service on his car twice despite covering over 360,000km and the vehicle being nine years old.

Chinese manufacturers BYD and GWM have shorter service intervals of 20,000km and 18,000 miles (29,000km) in the UK.

In South Africa, the distance between BYD service intervals is the same 20,000km, but the maximum period is one year.

GWM applies the same one-year/15,000km service interval on its Ora EV in South Africa as it does on its petrol and hybrid cars.

One German brand also has relatively short service intervals in South Africa — Mercedes-Benz.

It applies a 1-year/20,000km service interval on its EQ models.

In the UK, its service schedule has a shorter interval for the first service, after which its cars also only need servicing every two years or 32,200km, like Audi, Porsche, and Volvo.

The table below compares the service intervals of EVs from the top-selling electric carmakers in South Africa with their intervals in the UK.