Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
Divorce, Maintenance, Personal Injury, Medical Negligence
The one place in South Africa that is really falling a little bit behind at the moment is electric cars. I don’t think people appreciate how far ahead, in some respects, other countries are. China, for example, has a number of electric car companies that are hitting the market and their latest company called Nio has recently listed on the NYSE. They are planning to take on Tesla with a car that will cost half the price of Tesla and the accompanying picture alongside this blog is of a production model that I am sure will get the thoughts of any car enthusiastic racing! It looks very much like a McLaren and it will be interesting, with the massive and coast-effective production that the Chinese are capable of, given their low costs of labour, to see how successful this company is. It is a share I am thinking of investing in and therein lies the problem – the Chinese tech companies are not really popular on some of the international Stock Exchanges at the moment, particularly after Tencent had an earnings miss in the last quarter which led to its share going down by about 25%. The vehicle in the picture, which is really a concept, broke the electric vehicle speed record last year and their standard vehicle, the ES8, will be priced at about $65,000.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Thursday 25-Oct-18
Post a Comment
Comments
Liz said:
on Friday 16-Nov-18 01:50 PM
South Africa will certainly trail behind in acquiring electric cars, however, I do think once the trend starts it will grow and because the market is more competitive these cars will be more affordable.
Joyce said:
on Tuesday 13-Nov-18 01:07 PM
I don't trust self driven cars. I think electric cars need special roads maybe that might be the one of reasons South Africa still does not have these type of cars
sarah said:
on Tuesday 13-Nov-18 11:00 AM
I am not sure about these electrical cars , because of the safety aspect .
Jadine Richards said:
on Thursday 08-Nov-18 08:17 AM
At the rate the petrol price is increasing an affordable electric car would be a godsend. I think the costs need to be reduced substantially to actually make it a viable option for South African. However, even when that does happens South Africans are generally stubborn and take their time to jump on the advancement train.
Lucretia said:
on Monday 05-Nov-18 10:23 AM
I am all for competition. This way the average man on the street can also benefit by reduced costs. Although not South Africa right now, at the current exchange rate, the $65K is still way out of our price range.
Helen said:
on Monday 05-Nov-18 10:06 AM
I would invest as well in the car like this, but we do not know when in South Africa we will see cars like this.
Lots of changes must happen on our public roads, before self driving cars can appear!
Thabitha said:
on Friday 02-Nov-18 04:45 PM
What worries me though about electric cars is what if you travelling a long distance and there is no charging stations.
Zindy said:
on Thursday 01-Nov-18 09:26 AM
I have not seen many not even a handful on our roads. I don't think it would be introduced in such quantities in our country yet, I don't think our mechanics are even familiar with working with such cars and would first need training and the correct facility's to accommodate such cars.
Sinead said:
on Wednesday 31-Oct-18 04:10 PM
This is very true. I don't know of many electric cars in our country. It would be nice to see this kind of competition with Tesla. If I'm not mistaken, Tesla could go for at least 25% more than that price? Even up to double that? Depending on the model I suppose...
I must be honest, I had never heard of Nio until this blog and after Googling images of it, it looks quite nice...
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Wednesday 31-Oct-18 02:03 PM
I am of the opinion that South Africa will not have these cars for quite some time as there isn't a market for them at this stage. Where would one charge these cars when travelling far distances? I haven't seen any charging stations but I might be mistaken. The other issue would be the cost of these electric cars. How would an average consumer afford it? However with the increasing petrol prices it will be beneficial for everyone.
Prishani said:
on Wednesday 31-Oct-18 01:44 PM
I am glad that there are some upcoming companies, this means that the pricing will be competitive and the look will change and be modified which is always beneficial to the consumers.
Jadine Esterhuizen said:
on Wednesday 31-Oct-18 01:34 PM
This would be so beneficial with the ever increasing price of fuel and it would still increase from time to time.
Mathilda said:
on Tuesday 30-Oct-18 07:50 AM
With the increasing fuel price it's great to hear that they are looking in producing a more affordable electric car.
But the time South Africa gets it they would probably have cars that fly.
Victoria said:
on Monday 29-Oct-18 03:01 PM
The Nio model looks very smart and luxurious, which a lot of people go for when buying a car. I'm sure Tesla will still be the better one out of the two, but if Nio can get this right and its affordable. Many people will go for the affordable option.
Daniella said:
on Monday 29-Oct-18 12:21 PM
It truly is amazing the places technology is taking the world. I don't think South Africa will bring in electric cars for a very long time, however with petrol prices so high people might want to jump on the band wagon
Ashleigh said:
on Monday 29-Oct-18 09:30 AM
Even if we wanted to go electric due to petrol increases being hectic, these cars are going to be costly and might not even be able to afford one. I also wonder what the life-span of these electric cars are that are made from China.
courtney said:
on Friday 26-Oct-18 03:57 PM
I don't trust anything that's made in China. These electrical cars would be so much needed especially in South Africa with these petrol prices going up nearly every month.
Alexis said:
on Friday 26-Oct-18 11:05 AM
Not so trusting of most things made in China to be honest - Japan would be another story - it is however nice that there is a competitor - however it was bound to happen, and I am sure more will pop up as the years pass.
Bianca N said:
on Friday 26-Oct-18 08:45 AM
I think that an electric car will become something that all South Africans would want to invest in given the increasing fuel prices, but that said our country is not the most up to date country when it comes to these kinds of technology and I would think that our government would not be too excited about it given that people would then rather go this route than drive a petrol-driven car.
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Thursday 25-Oct-18 10:52 AM
No doubt that there would be more versions, especially cheaper than that of the Tesla. There are many requirements however to get this off the ground so I think it will take some time before we see this in the market. I think with petrol prices in SA that investing in an electric vehicle is really going to become a necessity to save in the long run.
Michelle said:
on Thursday 25-Oct-18 10:19 AM
This is not quite so shocking if one considers how advanced the whole of China and Japan are in terms of technology. Japan has the fastest supercomputer in the world, the K computer, that broke the record in June 2011.
Megan said:
on Thursday 25-Oct-18 08:46 AM
I agree with Jessica A, with the rising fuel cost an electric car could be desirable. I'm not much of a whiz when it comes to cars but I do go for the look and with the concept represented in this blog, I have to say the car looks luxurious and has a lovely interior.
Michelle D said:
on Thursday 25-Oct-18 08:26 AM
I have briefly looked at Nio, it is substantially cheaper than tesla, and in my opinion the cars are much more aesthetically pleasing...but leave it to China to manufacture something cheaper, their ability to do so has fueled their reputation and economy over the past couple of decades. I'm not a big fan of the EP9, Maclaren looking vehicle, but their concept car - the ES8 SUV - looks pretty nice and really something I can see taking off.
david said:
on Thursday 25-Oct-18 08:15 AM
everything is made in china, except the 'made in china' sticker!
that said, when the chinese build for foreign companies (BMW, Apple etc) the level of work is far, by a country mile, beyond the work they do for themselves. I would not consider, for even a minute, buying a chinese car, BUT i would by a BMW which consists of a huge number of chinese manufactured parts. when the chinese do work for the germans/americans etc, they have to conform to the brand's quality standards. when they manufacture for themselves everything is about cost, and the quality of raw materials and general construction is simply gone.
Jessica A said:
on Thursday 25-Oct-18 08:11 AM
Nice to see that Tesla will not be a monopoly in the game and competition always ensures competitive and more favourable costing for the purchaser! However, I must note that South Africa first need to deal with poverty and other socio-economic problems before we can consider such advancements....
On the other side of the coin - With the ever increasing fuel price though, an electric car may be quite favourable, if energy sources are sustainable and not coal driven!
brumilde said:
on Thursday 25-Oct-18 07:41 AM
South Africa is a 3rd world country, we didnt even get into the whole electric cars thing. but as always technology is ever growing and moving towards those sci-fi movies with humanized robots and houses that repair themselves, the car is just mechanically the easiest one to work from, as we would all love to drive in a self driving hover car.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
