Mr. Errol Musk refused the offer of his son, the world’s richest billionaire, to send a Tesla from the US to South Africa.
Elon Musk’s biological father does not drive a Tesla – and has no plans to drive a Tesla in the near future.
In January 2022, Mr. Errol Musk refused his son’s gift of a Tesla shipped from the US to South Africa, he told Insider.
His decision was partly due to shipping fees and import taxes being too high, although Elon Musk promised to “cover” all of those costs. The total cost including the car, shipping fees, and taxes is about $180,000, according to Mr. Errol.
“My kids of course weren’t worried about the money but I said ‘hey, it’s not worth it,’” Errol said.
The fact that Elon Musk does not care about the cost of owning a car is not surprising because 180,000 USD is only 0.00006% of his 278 billion USD fortune.
“There is no service center here yet. There is also no Tesla representative here,” Mr. Errol said, further explaining why he refused his son’s gift. “No charging station,” I said. “Dad doesn’t want to.”
The cost to ship a car from the US to South Africa is about 3,300 – 7,000 USD, according to data from shipping company A1 Auto Transport. South Africa charges 25% tax on imported vehicles.
Although Errol did not specify which car Elon Musk wanted to give him, one of Tesla’s most expensive cars at this time is the Model S Plaid, priced at about 100,000 USD.
This could be the car Elon Musk wants to give to his father.
While Tesla already sells cars in Europe and China, its cars are not yet available in South Africa. Winstone Jordaan, manager of a charging station development company in South Africa, said that according to local data, there were only about 1,500 electric vehicles and 300 charging stations nationwide as of May. Meanwhile, the number There are 1.7 million electric vehicles in the US and more than 130,000 charging stations.
Of course, Elon Musk’s biological father did not choose to walk. He said he owns a Rolls-Royce and another sports car. In addition, he also has a Ryan Navion plane manufactured in 1947.
“I’ve always owned a Rolls-Royce, since Elon and Kimbal were little,” Mr. Errol said – referring to his two sons. “I like driving Rolls-Royce. It’s very good – not better than a Tesla, of course – but more suitable for me.”
In Elon’s biography by author Walter Isaacson, the author wrote that he once owned a yellow Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible.
“If I lived in America, I would definitely drive a Tesla,” Errol Musk said.
In fact, Elon Musk and his biological father have a not very good relationship. Isaacson once wrote that Elon and his younger brother Kimbal once broke off relations with their father – something Errol denied. “I have the same relationship with my 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren that my father had with me,” Errol said. “In other words, we are men. We don’t hang out together but they are my 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren. I’m not their friend.”
