Charging an electric truck with off-grid solar power
A historic milestone has been reached with the opening of South Africa's first off-grid solar station for electric trucks.
- New Energy Vehicles
- 16 January 2026
Customer service was taken to a new high when two clients were surprised with an all expenses paid trip from East-London to attend the launch of BAIC’s new X55 in Johannesburg recently.
They were accompanied by the owner and Dealer Principal of BAIC in the city, Nate Padayachee, and the dealership’s manager, Manolito Knock.
But for the two buyers of BAIC’s new X55 SUV, Tembinkosi Bityo and his wife Cwayita, and Ivan Newman, the surprise did not end there.
On arrival back from the airport, it was straight to the dealership where their families joined in and both clients’ cars were delivered there and then. They were only expecting delivery at a later stage.
Ivan has bought BAIC vehicles from Nate’s Car Sales before and took delivery of a yellow X55 Dynamic, while the Bityo family received their maroon X55 Premium.
“It really felt like a dream come true to be able to attend the launch of the vehicle and for us to be able to sell it, as well as the buyers to buy it,” remarked Nate on the event. “We surprised them with their vehicle delivery straight after we landed. The families and even a dog joined us for this occasion and special moment.
Nate says they’ve sold eight BAIC Beijing X55s to date since the launch of the new model and all the transactions were financed through ABSA. “We even made our sign and new slogan ‘Nate’s Car Sales Powered by ABSA’, and we are truly honoured by this,” he says.
A historic milestone has been reached with the opening of South Africa's first off-grid solar station for electric trucks.
With the local automotive market’s consistent growth, month after month last year, one brand is not giving up a piece of its sales cake slice.
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You can't buy happiness but you can buy cars and that's kind of the same thing.
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