Geely Auto South Africa has launched the Riddara, a fully electric bakkie, with the two-wheel-drive Aspire Econ starting at R611,900 on a claimed 369km range. The four-wheel-drive Aspire Econ is R681,900 and the top Apex is R781,900.

The Apex RD6 runs a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system making 315kW and 595Nm, reaching 100km/h in 4.5 seconds, with a claimed 424km combined-cycle range.

The specifications that matter to a business buyer are not the acceleration figures. The Riddara carries more than a ton and tows up to three, has 225mm of ground clearance and an 815mm wading depth, and offers sand, mud and off-road drive modes.

It also works as a mobile power source, able to run equipment and appliances or supply a site during an outage, which is a more interesting feature here than in most markets given what the revised electricity pricing policy is about to do to tariffs.

Geely is backing it with a six-year or 150,000km vehicle warranty, an eight-year or 200,000km battery warranty, a six-year or 120,000km service plan and five years of roadside assistance, which is the real answer to residual-value anxiety on an unfamiliar badge.

The timing carries a tension. This is a Chinese-brand import arriving while the trade department reviews tariffs of up to 50% on vehicles from China and India.

Engineering News reported the launch and GASA product head Jateen Daya's pitch that it drives like an SUV but performs like a bakkie, without the operating costs the segment is known for. Its reporting on Metair last week documented the pressure imports are placing on local vehicle and component production. Engineering News also reported Geely's plan for a 10-vehicle local lineup and its partnership with CNBM on a South African EV ecosystem.

Strip out the EV framing, and this is a work vehicle priced against a diesel double-cab, with a fuel bill closer to zero and a service plan running six years. For a business operating a small fleet on fixed routes, the arithmetic is finally arguable rather than aspirational, and the vehicle-to-load function means the bakkie doubles as a generator on site.

Two cautions. Those range figures are combined-cycle claims, and a loaded bakkie towing three tons will not see 424km. And the trade department is weighing tariffs of up to 50% on Chinese and Indian vehicles, which is precisely the category this sits in.

If the numbers work for your operation, the window to buy at this price may be shorter than the warranty.

You might also like our piece on what the Big Mac Index rand figure says about import pricing, why South Africa's business regulation beats China's for restrictiveness, and what the surge in South African M&A says about who is backing the reform story.

Get more SA tech and business news and subscribe to The Open Letter.