Tesla, a famous electric car company, isn’t selling its cars in South Africa.
South African-born Elon Musk, the owner of the company, said this is because the South African government makes it very expensive to bring in cars from other countries. They do this to help South African car makers.
Musk said on Twitter that because electric cars aren’t made in South Africa it doesn’t make sense for Tesla to sell cars there due to these high costs.
This isn’t the first time Musk has said this. In 2019, he also mentioned that the costs of bringing Tesla cars into South Africa are too high.
An analysis by MyBroadband showed the cost of importing a Tesla into South Africa. A Tesla Cybertruck priced at R1.3-million would have around R622,000 added in extra taxes.
The South African government only recently started making plans for electric cars in the country.
They want to use money from richer countries to help make electric cars in South Africa. But these plans aren’t happening as yet.
Even though it’s expensive, other companies are still selling electric cars in South Africa. There are already 27 different kinds of electric cars you can buy here, and more are coming.
Some reports say the extra cost of bringing cars into the country depends on where the car comes from. Cars from China, for example, might not be as expensive to bring in as cars from Europe.
Pictured above: Elon Musk.
Image source: X
