Tesla and South Africa... How do we make it happen?

Sinbad said:
Tesla doesn't have v2g at the moment anyway.
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Oh right didn't realise. A company I work with in London has a bunch of VW ID4s and because they had it, sorta presumed they all did!

The Cybertruck definitely does though, right?
 
richjdavies said:
I guess what I'm really asking is what are the steps are to start a importing dealership... Anyone done that before on the forums?
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You are wasting your time.

Anyone can import an item for personal use, ask guys using Amazon or Partsouq etc.

Importing to resell is more complex.

Importing a vehicle is very complex as you have to get it homoglated and have parts and service back up and representation and warranties etc.
So the 1st car will cost you tens of millions.

Next you need to look at all the companies that brought in vehicles and failed.

VW brought in Seat & failed.
Gonow arrived and went.
Foton arrived and failed.
JMC did badly and JAC took over.

Google Force Motors SA, a SA company, EDC or something, brings them in.
They launched in September last year.
Go try buy a Force Gurkha.

Next thing to consider is that BYD, which is the biggest EV manufacturer in the world will swamp you as they roll out in SA.

Finally, No One is making money selling EVs in SA.

In fact Toyota USA loses money on every EV they sell.

Elon took over Tesla 20 years ago, he is a Saffa, if he hasn't done it, why do you think you should?

So given all this, why would you want to bring in a Tesla, other than massive misplaced Musk worship?
 
richjdavies said:
In SA. There is no super charger network. There are some fast chargers, but so what. I have no inclination to drive across SA and if I did I would take diesel.

Country

List of charging stations for electric vehicles in South Africa. Find the nearest EV charger for your electric car in South Africa
www.electromaps.com www.electromaps.com
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@Sinbad and I are referring to the UK. As I’ll be moving there this year.
 
Mannydefreitas said:
Elon took over Tesla 20 years ago, he is a Saffa, if he hasn't done it, why do you think you should?

So given all this, why would you want to bring in a Tesla, other than massive misplaced Musk worship?
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Your logic doesn't really stand up. I'm not trying to MAKE Teslas. So the fact that Toyota loses money on an EV is neither here nor there.

Tesla is a company, one which used to not have enough supply, and now does. The fact they (not Elon himself, the company is more than him, in fact he seems much more involved in manufacturing than sales!) have not done SA up til now, does not mean they won't ever. What I am trying to nudge forward is that they do... Sooner rather than later.
Not just import one or two, but convince them to invest (that feels like the better option than importing lots because see point 2 below, without them supporting sales here the value case is lower).

Read above. Tesla because
1. No good EVs here. BMWs ones are trash. VW doesn't seem to want to bring in their IDs, yet.. (Audi etron.. Like BMW is a show piece not a real selling car). Not sure I've seen Leafs or Renaults much.
2. Only Tesla has FSD.
Go look at FSD v12.3. It won't be long before tesla cars drive themselves. It's like everyone is still selling Nokias when there are iphones and androids out there... The kind of functionality and value that unlocks is huge.
 
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Mannydefreitas said:
So on a Thread on a South African Forum where a South African askes about importing a Tesla to South Africa someone felt referring to a Supercharger Network in some Caliphate with a failing economy was relevant...?
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Come and say that when the SA economy surpasses the UK's.
 
Mannydefreitas said:
So on a Thread on a South African Forum where a South African askes about importing a Tesla to South Africa someone felt referring to a Supercharger Network in some Caliphate with a failing economy was relevant...?
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Do calm your chicken tits. The discussion is around Tesla.
 
like the idea of Teslas in SA, plenty of other Sh1th0les have them, but nowhere in Africa.

problem is Tesla is extremely expensive and over-engineered for what it is, a electric vehicle and those have existed since the Model T days.

the Chinese will import EV's into SA , they will work very well, especially when they adapt them to our conditions, or roads,
and like anything else new and untested al that needs to happen is for the trickle to turn into a flood and everybody will be driving EV's.

remember Japanese cars, how at one time they were crap, and nobody wanted them, then a Oil war broke out, big stupid idiot V8's died out,
and people switched to small Japanese cars, saw how reliable and efficient they were and the trickle became a flood.

same thing will happen with EV's all there needs to be is for a event that makes driving a ICE car bad, and the trickle will become a flood like last time.
 
richjdavies said:
With all the guys going solar and having spare power, the fact that vehicle to grid would be great to addition to load shedding and full self driving getting close to 'done' I, at least, would really like to get a Tesla! But there are no dealerships here, right? So could import but then how would you keep it maintained/fixed if there are faults/damage.

Looking for experts in how to MAKE it happen?

I'm sure existing dealerships etc. resist, but Chinese models have managed to break in. What would need to be done to make a manufacturer sell in SA?


Ps: yes I know they would be expensive because of import duties, but so what, ferraris and Porches are expensive, but there's still a dealership in Cape Town!

techcentral.co.za

Elon Musk explains why Tesla hasn't launched in South Africa - TechCentral

Elon Musk has given the first insight into why Tesla hasn’t launched its range of electric vehicles in South Africa.
techcentral.co.za techcentral.co.za
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you cannot charge a Tesla on solar and power you house realistically. Cars use a ridiculous amount of energy to travel 100km. That is more than my house uses per day. and you need 2 Tesla's then. one to drive and the other to stay at home to charge. another option would be grid meshing. Where you would dump extra solar into grid and just pay for where ever you charge.
 
Magnum said:
.. just pay for where ever you charge.
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That's just called metering I think :)

To recap numbers:

A good EV will get around 6km per kwh.
Electrictity costs R3/kwh. So that's 50c/km

Petrol car say a Golf use about 7L per 100km. So you pay R22/L and that's 154/100km or R1.5/km.

The cost of power isn't the issue here. It doesn't have to be solar.

I think the coming year or two we are going to have cost comparable EVs.
Yes a Tesla will not be the same price as a Chery, but probably not far off a BMW or Audi. BYD could be the same price as a Haval.

We are at the point of the big switch over for new vehicles, used in town/commuting anyway.
 
richjdavies said:
That's just called metering I think :)

To recap numbers:

A good EV will get around 6km per kwh.
Electrictity costs R3/kwh. So that's 50c/km

Petrol car say a Golf use about 7L per 100km. So you pay R22/L and that's 154/100km or R1.5/km.

The cost of power isn't the issue here. It doesn't have to be solar.

I think the coming year or two we are going to have cost comparable EVs.
Yes a Tesla will not be the same price as a Chery, but probably not far off a BMW or Audi. BYD could be the same price as a Haval.

We are at the point of the big switch over for new vehicles, used in town/commuting anyway.
Click to expand...

To be fair I think we will see more and more EVs on our roads in the next 5 years. I see more and more chargers at malls and such.
 
Priapus said:
To be fair I think we will see more and more EVs on our roads in the next 5 years. I see more and more chargers at malls and such.
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I don't quite get who is charging at a mall, unless it's cheaper than at home (could very well be! In CPT power marginal extra kwh costs about 30% less for bulk users than residential).

Ultimately if something like $10,000 BYD seagull was available I think it would do pretty well
electrek.co

BYD launches cheaper Seagull electric car with starting price under $10,000 to fuel price war

BYD’s cheapest electric car just got even more affordable. The EV maker is fueling its price war with gas-powered cars...
electrek.co electrek.co

We digress. Teslas... Because I want full self driving!

Those too lazy for X to research:
www.autoevolution.com

Tesla Is Confident FSD Beta V12 Hit a Breakthrough, It's Too Good for Your Own Safety

The latest iteration of the Tesla Full Self-Driving software is a winner, but owners should know that the software is too good for their own safety
www.autoevolution.com www.autoevolution.com
 
richjdavies said:
I don't quite get who is charging at a mall, unless it's cheaper than at home (could very well be! In CPT power marginal extra kwh costs about 30% less for bulk users than residential).

Ultimately if something like $10,000 BYD seagull was available I think it would do pretty well
electrek.co

BYD launches cheaper Seagull electric car with starting price under $10,000 to fuel price war

BYD’s cheapest electric car just got even more affordable. The EV maker is fueling its price war with gas-powered cars...
electrek.co electrek.co

We digress. Teslas... Because I want full self driving!

Those too lazy for X to research:
www.autoevolution.com

Tesla Is Confident FSD Beta V12 Hit a Breakthrough, It's Too Good for Your Own Safety

The latest iteration of the Tesla Full Self-Driving software is a winner, but owners should know that the software is too good for their own safety
www.autoevolution.com www.autoevolution.com
Click to expand...

The FSD option is expensive I hear like $12k
 
Just read that article.

When I was in the UK last year I drove a hire car that had the normal radar stuff. Slowing the car down and speeding it up in traffic. I must say it was epic having that. So I get the appeal of FSD.

Maybe I might just get a Tesla model 3
 
Priapus said:
Just read that article.

When I was in the UK last year I drove a hire car that had the normal radar stuff. Slowing the car down and speeding it up in traffic. I must say it was epic having that. So I get the appeal of FSD.

Maybe I might just get a Tesla model 3
Click to expand...
Yup same here. ID4 was awesome silently and effortlessly keeping lanes and speeding up and slowing down on it's own.
 
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