Best plug-in hybrid under R1m

The Omoda C9 offers good looks, exceptional elegance, ferocious power and can easily get you more than 1000km on one tank of fuel

- Eyaaz Matwadia

Until now, new energy vehicles (NEV) have not really taken off in the South African market. Although the segment experienced a 100.6% year-on-year increase in 2024, it still made up only 3% of the total new-vehicle market.

Factors around the slow performance in new-energy vehicles include range anxiety, charging infrastructure and pricing. By the end of 2024, there was no plugin hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) under a million rand.

But Chinese manufacturers have recently released a variety of vehicles into the market that might just be the trigger to get NEVs on the road.

BYD released the Sealion 6 in April and other brands followed suit. Omoda and Jaecoo released PHEV variants of the C9 and J7 in June, Chery released the PHEV variant of the Tiggo 7 Pro and Haval released the H6 GT in a PHEV as well. All of these models come in at under a million rand.

The Mail & Guardian had the Omoda C9 on test for the week.

Omoda is meant to be the luxury arm of Chery, so when you get one, you know that you are in for some amazing technology and brilliant features.

To start off, while there are door handles, there’s also a button that opens your door. This button was convenient and gave me a smooth feeling when doing something as simple as opening the car door.

Then, Omoda takes keyless entry to a new level in this vehicle. There is no stop-start button. Just jump into the vehicle with your key, put your seatbelt on and you are ready to move wherever you need to. The car will not move unless you have your seatbelt on.

I've only ever seen this with flagship Volvo models.

Omoda is known for its bold exterior and luxurious interior and the C9 does not disappoint.