Whether peak or off-peak, flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town are still doing what they do best: committing daylight robbery with a smile. R6 000 to R8 000 for a return economy seat, where you are forced into a painful Locked Lotus yoga pose for 120 long minutes, and you still have to pay for your luggage.
So four teenagers and I did the unthinkable (or perhaps the sensible): we drove. Not just drove – but we turned the journey into part of the holiday.
The weapon of choice for our rebellion? Volvo’s EX30 Twin Motor Performance, a compact electric missile that proves two things can be true at once: Electric Vehicles (EVs) are properly quick, and road trips can be the main character.
Reframing the maths
Let’s do the thing South Africans are excellent at: financial justification. Flights for a family of five, at about R6 000 per person? R30 000. Add a car hire in Cape Town for seven days at about R500 per day, and you are looking at R3 500.
Now compare that with driving an EV from Joburg to Bloemfontein and connecting with the Garden Route to take in the natural wonder that is George, and ending up in the Mother City.
Electricity costs less than petrol and diesel, public fast chargers are increasingly dotted along major highways and byways (with about 500 chargers available every 150 km or so), and suddenly it becomes a no-brainer. Public charging costs approximately R7 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), and for the 1600 km one-way escapade, it cost us roughly R2 500, as we consumed about 320 kWh of energy.
Clearly, R2 500 trumps R33 500 any day.
Stop rushing. Start travelling.
The problem with flying is that it compresses the country into a security queue and a lukewarm muffin. Driving, on the other hand, reintroduces scale. You feel South Africa again. The Karoo doesn’t flash past your window. It unfolds. Each charge at dorpies, such as Ventersburg, Colesberg, and Richmond, is an opportunity to interact with locals who are more than keen to recommend their favourite biltong spots and where to have the most delicious lunch.
Road trips mean that towns have names and are not just exit signs.
Coffee stops become memories. Instead of punishing ourselves with a single, 16-hour drive, we opted to stretch it over three days, sleeping over in Bloemfontein, followed by George. The trip was not only about “getting to Cape Town”, but it was also about stopping to smell the roses along the way.
First overnight stop: Protea Hotel by Marriott Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein doesn’t get enough credit. It’s the middle child of the N1 – dependable, quietly improving, and always there when you need it, just like the Protea Hotel by Marriott Bloemfontein.
A night at Protea Hotel Bloemfontein is the kind of restful pause every long-distance road trip deserves. As it is centrally located in the business district, it strikes a solid balance between comfort and convenience, as the hotel’s 94 rooms are thoughtfully decorated with modern, earthy tones that instantly put you into holiday mode, while free Wi-Fi and air-conditioning tick the essential comfort boxes with ease.
I am one to know that it’s really tough to impress teenagers, but even my lot could not keep quiet about how friendly, attentive, and welcoming the staff were, turning our one-night stopover into memorable and way too many selfies. In the morning, I was asked if we could take the outdoor pool, sun terrace, and comfortable beds as part of our padkos.
Unfortunately, the Volvo’s 318 litres of boot space was already crammed with four suitcases and its multiple storage spaces were teeming with hair products, device chargers, pimple-removing creams and the latest, trending sneakers.
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The EV reality check (and why it works)
Yes, you need to do very basic planning. No, it’s not stressful, thanks to apps such as A Better Route Planner and GridCars. Additionally, the R1,055,900 Volvo EX30 comes with a Wi-Fi router loaded with data that allows you to use the on-board Google Maps.
This provides live information on the nearest chargers, how fast (or slow) they are, if they will be available or occupied by the time you arrive, and how long you should charge if you are in a time crunch.
The EX30’s real-world range of 360 km is more than enough for sensible legs between major towns, and fast chargers along the N1 mean coffee breaks do double duty.
The trick is to stop thinking in petrol terms. You’re not “filling up”; you’re pausing. Bathroom. Cappuccino. Chat to the teenagers about their significant others. Back on the road. Our shortest charge lasted all of 15 minutes, while the longest, which stretched over lunch, was an hour and a half.
And because you are in an electric car, the fatigue factor is lower. No engine noise. No engine vibration. Just quiet progress and a 9-speaker Harman Kardon soundtrack, playing every single Amapiano song ever created. Teenagers!
Some of my short list of complaints include insufficient rear passenger legroom (even for teenagers who are yet to hit a growth spurt) and how impractical it is for almost all of the car’s functions (climate control, adjusting mirrors, opening the glovebox, switching on fog lights) to be housed on the 12.3-inch touchscreen.
The large, fixed panoramic glass sunroof does not come with a sunshade, and the South African summer, featuring scorching temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius, certainly won the war with the sunroof’s anti-UV coating and tint.
Charging through the Garden Route, via the Marriott George King George
George is where the trip shifts tone. The air changes. The scenery flexes. And the Protea Hotel by Marriott George King George steps confidently into its glow-up era. This is not your “just passing through” stay; it’s a soft landing into holiday mode.
The 4-star hotel nestled on the Garden Route, just minutes from George Airport, offers classic country-style charm with easy access to local beaches, golf, and outdoor adventures. Its tranquil gardens, prime location with lovely views over the golf course and surrounding landscape made it ideal for our family road-trip stopover.
Multiple swimming pools, relaxed dining at the Fairway Terrace and Rex Tavern restaurants, a playground, a pool table, table tennis, and free, “super-fast” WiFi, according to the young ones, were just some of the many highlights.
For the one doing all the driving – yours truly – the newly refreshed deluxe rooms, featuring modern touches, vaulted ceilings, spacious layouts, and large balconies overlooking the pool area, almost convinced me that we did not need to proceed another 434 km to Cape Town.
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Why EVs make sense for road trips
With less than 1% of new cars sold locally in 2024 being EVs, South Africans are only waking up to the fact that road travel does not have to be exorbitantly expensive, thanks to ever-increasing fuel costs.
On our trip, the Volvo EX30 Twin Performance was economical and yet made overtaking a pleasure. As we piled on the kilometres, we realised why it is South Africa’s best-selling EV. It is small enough to feel urban, fast enough to embarrass bigger cars (0-100 km/h in a blistering 3.6 seconds, thanks to two electric motors providing 315 kW and 543 Nm to all four wheels) and smart enough to make long-distance driving feel civilised. It’s proof that EVs in South Africa are no longer theoretical or aspirational – they’re practical.
More importantly, EVs change the emotional maths of travel. Instead of dreading the journey, you design it. Instead of airport rage, you get roadside sunsets. Instead of paying airline surge pricing, you invest in experiences you actually remember.
The real takeaway
As we kick off 2026, flights remain expensive, and we can expect them to remain like that because they can. On the other hand, driving is cheaper because it asks something of you: time, curiosity, presence. And that’s the point.
If you reframe the Joburg-to-Cape Town drive not as a punishment but as a prologue, everything changes. With the right car: quiet, quick, electric, and sufficient stops, the road becomes part of the story.
And honestly? By the time you roll into Cape Town, bags unpacked, playlist retired, you’ll realise something quietly radical: the holiday didn’t start when you arrived. It started when you decided not to fly.
