[imagesource:saicmaxus]

South Africa’s first fully electric double cab bakkie, the Maxus, has finally gone on sale.

Maxus Electric Vehicles is the local dealer and distributor for Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation (SAIC), which has now officially opened its doors in South Africa with a range of battery-powered vehicles.

The company has released three electric vehicles in South Africa, which include the Maxus, a delivery van and the Chassis Cab bakkie – all which are available for delivery later in 2023.

Maxus is initially only focusing on the Gauteng market by opening its first dealership, showroom, and service centre in Pretoria (makes sense), with more launches to follow in Cape Town, Durban, and other metropolitan areas.

The company has been partnering with Woolies and DSV already, with their vehicles clocking 1 000 000 kilometres for the companies, without any issues. The company claims that these partnerships have already resulted in 220 tons less harmful carbon emissions being spewed into our South African sky.

The Maxus T90 EV is intended to be “an alternative to urban 4×2 commercial combustion double cabs in industries like mining, private security, aviation, and farming,” said Maxus.

Headline figures of the bakkie include a 150kW and 310Nm electric motor on the rear axle, an 88kWh battery pack, a driving range of 354km, and a maximum payload and towing capacity of 1,000kg.

Charging the battery on an 80kW DC plug from 5-80% takes around 45 minutes, and on an 11kW AC connector, it takes nine hours to go from 5-100%, resulting in an operating cost of R0.55/km, according to Maxus. Pricing for the T90 EV is set atR1.1 million, which includes a 100,000km/5-year warranty, and a 160,000km/8-year battery warranty.

Check out a review for the UK version below:

It’s a mean-looking machine and you can expect to see plenty of these whistling their way around SA roads by the end of this year.

[source:topauto]