The idea of swapping out fuel for electricity has become popular ever since it became apparent that climate change has taken hold, the price of petrol has skyrocketed, and we probably only have 30 or so years of human civilisation left.

Nothing like impending extinction to light a fire under you when it comes to leaving less of a carbon footprint.

In South Africa, however, the electric car hasn’t really caught on.

I mean, electricity isn’t something that we take for granted here.

Thanks, Eskom.

Regardless, when Elon Musk suggested that he might be bringing Tesla to South Africa people got quite excited, reports MyBroadband.

Musk, who was born in South Africa, was asked in 2018 when he planned on bringing the brand to South Africa to compete in the electric vehicle market.

He responded by saying “Probably end of next year” – which excited many South Africans who wanted to get their hands on one of these vehicles.

However, Musk has since backpedalled on his statement.

He was recently asked again on Twitter whether Tesla will come to South Africa, and his response was less positive than before.

“Would love to, but import duties are extremely high, even for electric vehicles,” said Musk.

He’s got a point.

Ebrahim Patel, the Minister of Trade and Industry, confirmed that the country does not subsidise the importing or production of electric vehicles.

“The Automotive Production and Development Program (APDP) supports the importing of electric vehicles using a rebate credit certificate,” said Patel.

“I am in discussion with the automobile sector in South Africa regarding the production of electric or hybrid vehicles locally,” he added.

“We are keen to ensure that South Africa develops production capacity in what is anticipated to be a growing part of the car market. On conclusion of the discussions, a formal statement will be made.”

Cool, so they’re working on it. They’d best work on the electricity problem as well then, amongst other things.

Nissan had the following to say:

“To succeed, EVs [electric vehicles] have the same requirements in South Africa as other markets, namely an initial period of government incentives, expanding charging infrastructure and public education and familiarisation programme.”

Nissan added that it is working with the Department of Environmental Affairs, and will continue to do so to increase the volume of electric vehicles on South African roads.

Until then, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Teslas in car dealerships anytime soon.

[source:mybroadband]