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Tesla owner Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, tweeted that his electric car company could open its first store in Africa by the end of 2019.
The 47-year-old was born in Pretoria and moved to Canada at the age of 17 to study at Queen's University.
READ: DRIVEN - Tesla Model S
Musk posted a tweet about 11 new Tesla dealerships opening in the United States. One of his Twitter followers asked when the Tesla CEO would open a branch in South Africa. Musk replied "probably end of next year".
But don't hold your breath on Musk's tweet.
In March 2016, the billionaire tweeted that Tesla's smallest and cheapest car, the Model 3, would make its way to SA. Almost three years later we are yet to see a Model 3 on SA roads.
South Africa's electric-vehicle charging infrastructure is not as widely available in comparison to other countries and another stumbling block is the high cost of electric vehicles.
In September, Jaguar, in partnership with electric vehicle charging authority GridCars, set up 82 new public charging stations in the country’s major hubs and along frequently-travelled holiday routes.
The R30-million infrastructure investment according the automaker will make day-to-day travel, as well as longer day trips and even very long journeys possible for owners of electric vehicles.
But with Musk tweeting that SA will see its first Tesla store next year, hopefully he'll finally fulfill his promise of bringing the Model 3 to local shores.
