It’s a big day for Tesla and South African electric car fans, as the company announced that its mass-market Model 3 sedan is making its way to our shores.
After the car was yesterday unveiled at a press event in the States, the company CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to announce the additional countries that will see the Model 3. One of which is South Africa.
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Adding several more countries to Model 3 order page tonight. Check for details, but will include India, Brazil, SA, SK, NZ, Sing & Ireland.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2016
Fellow BRICS nations, India and Brazil, will also see the car on their roads.
Although the car is more than a year away from production, scheduled for debut in 2017, the company unveiled a preview version to the public that promises “real world range, performance, safety and spaciousness into a premium sedan.”
It might be the company’s most affordable car to date, but it will still set US resident back US$35 000. According to BusinessTech, an SA-based MyBroadband reader has already pre-ordered the car, and the exchange rate was pegged at R15/dollar.
That’s over half a million rand, if you’re wondering.
Still, Tesla is promising marked improvements over its other cars in terms of value, with a range of 346km per charge, a 0-100km/h sprint time of six seconds, and its autopilot feature, which sounds a dream for navigating the long, pin-straight roads of the Karoo.
The car will likely only arrive in South Africa in 2018, but head over to the Tesla site if you have a few spare coins lying around for a pre-order.
