His father did not accept Elon Musk’s Tesla gift

Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, said his son rejected his offer to ship Tesla to South Africa.

The cost of transportation and import taxes influenced the decision of Errol Musk, who rejected his son’s offer to give him a Tesla and send it to his home in South Africa in January 2022.

According to data from the automotive transport company A1 Auto Transport, the cost of shipping a vehicle from the United States to South Africa varies between 3,300 and 7,000 dollars. Additionally, South Africa imposes a 25 percent customs duty on car imports.

The cost of shipping and import fees for the car totaled just over $180,000, Errol said.

Although Elon Musk agreed to pay this money, his father claimed that it was not worth the payment.

Explaining that he turned down his son’s offer, Errol cited Tesla’s lack of service and representation in South Africa and lack of charging stations as some of the reasons.

‘MY CAR IS BETTER THAN TESLA’

Errol, who says he owns a Rolls-Royce and a sports car, also owns a Ryan Navion plane built in 1947.

“I’ve always had Rolls-Royces since Elon and Kimbal were babies,” Errol said, referring to his two sons.

Errol stated that for him his car is nicer than the Tesla and said: “I prefer to drive a Rolls-Royce. “It’s a lot better, well, not better than a Tesla, but it’s still nicer to me,” he said.

NO TESLA SALES IN SOUTH AFRICA

While Tesla has started selling its electric vehicles in Europe and China, the vehicles are not sold in South Africa.

Winstone Jordaan, CEO of South African electric vehicle charging station company GridCars, told a local news source in May that there are approximately 1,500 electric vehicles and 300 charging stations across the country.

On the other hand, according to Experian, 1.7 million electric vehicles are used in the United States, and according to March data from the White House, there are more than 130,000 public charging stations throughout the country.