Elon Musk, who left South Africa when he graduated from high school in 1989, plans to open Tesla’s first store in this country in 2019.
Tesla is a US electric automative trailblazer, praised for the distance its vehicles can travel on an electrical charge.
In reply to a Tesla tweet about new store openings in the US, @fluffypony asked Musk: “When are one of these opening back home, boet?”
Musk replied: “Probably end of next year.”
The 47-year-old tweeted in 2016 that Tesla’s cheapest car, the Model 3, would be heading to South Africa. It has yet to arrive.
Prices for the Model 3 start at $35,000 (or roughly R500,00). Tesla’s Model S costs $75,000 (roughly R1 million), the Model X cost $80,000 (roughly R1.1 million) and the Roadster $200,000 (roughly R2.8 million).
The South African prices can, however, be considerably higher due to the country’s 25% import tax on electric vehicles.
The four-seater Roadster is the world’s quickest standard commercial vehicle, accelerating to 60mph or 96.6km/h in just under two seconds.
It has a top speed of 250mph (a touch over 400km/h) and has a total range of 620 miles (just under 1,000km) – roughly the distance between Cape Town and Bloemfontein.
Meanwhile, the Model S can seat five people, and accelerates to 60mph in 2.5 seconds.
It has a range of 500km.
The Model X has the longest electric range of any sports vehicle in the world at 470km.
It can recharge for a 270km drive in 30 minutes at Tesla supercharge locations.
After one full year on the market, the Model X ranked in 2016 seventh among the world’s best-selling plug-in cars.
The Model 3, designed for the mass market, has a total range of 500km and accelerates to 60mph in 3.4 seconds.
It has a top speed of 250km/h and can seat five people.
All the vehicles can recharge over a household electrical plug, and comes with a four-year warranty.
