Watts & Wheels Ep 3: 'We drive the new Dongfeng Box'

Loading player...
The Dongfeng Box electric city runabout has landed in South Africa, and Watts & Wheels has taken the vehicle – one of the cheapest electric cars currently on sale in the country – for a test drive.
One of China’s biggest and oldest motoring manufacturers, the state-owned Dongfeng Motor Corporation has identified South Africa as a key export market and, through E Auto Motor, has launched the brand in South Africa – starting with the Dongfeng Box, whose pricing begins at R460 000.
Watts & Wheels hosts William Kelly and Duncan McLeod take the Box for a drive around Johannesburg and share their thoughts on this intriguing and relatively low-cost hatchback designed for urban and city driving.
Also in this final episode of the three-part pilot season of Watts & Wheel, William and Duncan get animated about:
• The state of the EV charging infrastructure market in South Africa – and is it getting overtraded?;
• A new report on EV sales in South Africa over the next five years;
• Chery’s reporting plans to build a car plant in South Africa;
• The challenges at Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s East London production plant, especially in the light of US President Donald Trump’s tariff wars;
• Tesla’s challenge to the like of Waymo – a look at Elon Musk’s determination to win in autonomous ride-hailing services;
• Xiaomi’s beautiful YU7 and how it’s going toe-to-toe with Tesla in China;
• What’s happening at Porsche; and
• Christian Horner’s exit at Red Bull Racing.
Don’t miss this episode.
11 Aug 2025 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

Meet the CIO | Inside the JSE’s tech engine with CIO Tebalo Tsoaeli

Technology sits at the heart of modern capital markets, and nowhere is that more evident than at the JSE. In the latest episode of Meet the CIO, TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod sits down with Tebalo Tsoaeli, the bourse’s CIO, to unpack how technology underpins Africa’s largest stock exchange – and…
2 Feb 47 min

TCS+ | Cloud On Demand and Consnet: inside a real-world AWS partner success story

The cloud revolution has challenged businesses of all sizes by changing how IT teams go about implementing projects and managing infrastructure. IT service firms have been doubly challenged, having to sell a new computing paradigm to their clients while also practising what they preach and adopting cloud-first technologies in-house. Consnet…
30 Jan 25 min

Watts & Wheels S1E3: ‘BYD’s Corolla Cross challenger’

TechCentral’s electric car show Watts & Wheels is back for episode 3 of season 1, and while EVs remain the focus, the conversation takes a detour into something far less planet-friendly – and far more jaw-dropping. Duncan McLeod and co-host William Kelly kick off by drooling over a wild new…
30 Jan 36 min

Watts & Wheels S1E2: ‘China attacks, BMW digs in, Toyota’s sublime supercar’

Chinese car makers continue their rapid push into the South African market, raising uncomfortable questions for incumbents. With aggressive pricing, fast product cycles and increasingly polished vehicles, the competitive landscape is shifting faster than many expected. There is also an update on Stellantis’s manufacturing plans and what they could mean…
23 Jan 38 min