Tesla Powerwall confirmed for SA

Only in RSA, keeping it real

He warned that batteries imported from overseas will be hit with the new 30% duty recently imposed by SARS, though.
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South African-born technology entrepreneur Elon Musk
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Really?

Seriously, why does this always have to be mentioned? No one cares where he was born.
If you want to be correct, then call him "South African-born Canadian-American Elon Musk." (That's right, his mother is [was?] Canadian and he left SA in 1988, when he was 17...he's 44 now.)

:rolleyes:
 
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Sl8er said:
Really?

Seriously, why does this always have to be mentioned? No one cares where he was born.
If you want to be correct, then call him "South African-born Canadian-American Elon Musk." (That's right, his mother is [was?] Canadian and he left SA in 1988, when he was 17...he's 44 now.)

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

In theory the SA link, however tenuous makes the news slightly more likely to appeal to locals. Obviously not on this site but in general media people are more likely to only take a second look if they can find some relation.

o/t: It'd be stupid of SA to impose such huge duties on a product that is likely to help with our power constraints, the economy is allegedly losing 1% of its GDP to load-shedding per annum.
 
R13... said:
In theory the SA link, however tenuous makes the news slightly more likely to appeal to locals. Obviously not on this site but in general media people are more likely to only take a second look if they can find some relation.

o/t: It'd be stupid of SA to impose such huge duties on a product that is likely to help with our power constraints, the economy is allegedly losing 1% of its GDP to load-shedding per annum.
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And what do you think our government is in this regard other than stupid?
 
Sl8er said:
Really?

Seriously, why does this always have to be mentioned? No one cares where he was born.
If you want to be correct, then call him "South African-born Canadian-American Elon Musk." (That's right, his mother is [was?] Canadian and he left SA in 1988, when he was 17...he's 44 now.)

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

glad you speak for every person on the planet. some people like to see South Africa mentioned as it installs some pride and patriotism for them.
 
Maybe the powers that be could pull finger and convince him to open a factory here... you know, create employment, lower costs etc
 
Updated the article with comments from Soltra Energy CEO Jack Ward. The full e-mail interview is reproduced below.

Do you think the Tesla Powerwall is as revolutionary as many people think it is?

Yes, the Tesla Powerwall is a revolutionary concept. Not necessarily because the battery system is based on lithium-ion (Li-ion) technology – which has been around for many years powering cell-phones, lap-top computers and now electric cars – but because Tesla will bring it to the mass market fully packaged at a very competitive price point it will no longer be an exotic option. It is the first solution that makes it possible for the wide-spread use of alternative energy sources such as solar PV. The battery’s competitive pricing will make it generally available to many more consumers than current, competing battery technologies.

Do you think this technology will come to South Africa?

Most certainly – faster than many would think. Available at a competitive price point, the Tesla system is ideally suited to meeting the power provisioning challenges faced by South African businesses and individuals on a regular basis – load-shedding and power-outages caused by any number of factors, including cable theft.

These issues are not commonly experienced in the US where the “green lobby” is more assertive as a technology driver.

Moreover, South Africans have to deal with regular hikes in the price of electricity and will soon face the introduction of time-of-day billing (or ‘smart-metering’) which will further increase costs. These inevitabilities will underpin the broad acceptance of the Tesla battery (and solar PV) as a cost-effective, efficient and professionally-supported alternative.

The Tesla battery can be charged from the grid during off-peak periods, supplemented by solar energy, or it can form the basis of an off-grid installation, relying entirely on solar PV/alternative energy sources.

Do you offer similar products already, which basically do the same?

Yes. Deep-cycle lead-acid batteries are readily available, while flow batteries and batteries based on other technologies are being talked about. However, they pale in comparison to well-engineered and cost-efficient Li-ion solutions. The Tesla system appears to be ideally positioned to address the power provisioning problems and challenges faced by South Africa. It will be a game-changer in the local marketplace.

Jack Ward, Powermode MD.png
 
crackersa said:
glad you speak for every person on the planet. some people like to see South Africa mentioned as it installs some pride and patriotism for them.
Click to expand...

In every. Single. Article?

South Africans are "every person on the planet"? Sigh.

I guarantee you, anyone who doesn't know who Elon Musk is, doesn't care...and anyone who does, knows he's "South African-born."
It's become redundant.

Anyway, back on topic.
 
ellyally said:
Maybe the powers that be could pull finger and convince him to open a factory here... you know, create employment, lower costs etc
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You think he would want to deal with the BEE issues, the 2-yearly strike cycle, high cost of labour and low economic growth? He can just do that in the US and export to us. Much easier on himself, and there's a political party that runs on the platform of "as low corporate taxes as possible." In any event, at night the solar panels will be stolen from the factory's roof.

In addition, he needs to find and import Lithium first for the batteries, unless you know of a local source. There are some being mined in Zim, but 90% of Li comes from South America, Australia and China. Our government will simply place an import duty on imported Li to protect the local mining industry like they did with completed batteries.
 
Jan said:
... Tesla will bring it to the mass market fully packaged at a very competitive price point
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Um, with shipping and duty it's going to work out to something like R60K? Hardly competitive at all compared to lead acid. And is this a battery only (i.e. no inverter)? In which case a comparable lead acid solution is going to cost less than a quarter of this fully installed. The only people who will go with this are those that have money to burn and just want to be able to say they have a Tesla Powerwall. I know lead acid will handle much fewer charge cycles but hell for the price difference you can justify replacing them every few years and still come out cheaper.
 
mybb please do proper research and post the correct facts. The proposed import tax was set at 30% but only 15% was approved, and with motorcycle batteries getting its own category with only a 5% import tax (as it was before)
 
So the duty is actually 15% then..

So we can look at a 30 - 40% premium realistically once it lands in this country.
 
Sl8er said:
Really?

Seriously, why does this always have to be mentioned? No one cares where he was born.
If you want to be correct, then call him "South African-born Canadian-American Elon Musk." (That's right, his mother is [was?] Canadian and he left SA in 1988, when he was 17...he's 44 now.)

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Interestingly I watched last Sundays TWiT and they were talking about this and several of them commented that he is South African incl Leo Laporte, Jason Calacanis etc. So for US tech personalities he is known to come from SA.
 
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