Well, we all have been waiting for Tesla to arrive in India. Now, the latest rumours suggest that the cars are inbound and could be imported via China. Reports suggest that the Model 3 & Model Y are being considered for sale here in our market, as the EV infrastructure is starting to fall in place. The cars will be built at the Tesla facility in Shanghai, China and brought to our market just like many other technology companies are bringing their devices. This is being done as logistics and taxation isn’t making it feasible to import cars directly from USA. However, there could very well be the first lot of cars for dealer displays or experiential purposes which can be imported from America.
China is being used as a production hub for Asian markets, including India. The Model 3 & Model Y are the more affordable cars in the Tesla portfolio and this production plan makes sense. The Model 3 is a regular 4-door electric sedan while the Model Y is a SUV / crossover. Tesla will first commence production in China for the local market, and later start batch production of right-hand drive cars. The final decision has not been made yet on the import of cars from China to India due to the trade relations.
The Tesla Model 3 has a 0-60 mph performance in just 3.2 seconds which makes it super fast by electric car standards and has a 310 miles / full charge driving range with the Dual Motor AWD setup. The car weighs 4072 lbs and has a supercharging setup for getting ready for a drive within minutes. There are cheaper variants as well which differ in driving range and acceleration performance.
The Tesla Model Y is a 7-seater SUV with a claimed top speed of 150 mph. This model can deliver a driving range of 280 miles and sprints from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds with the Dual Motor AWD system. There’s also a Long Range RWD model which has the range extended to 300 miles but is slow to 60 mph at 5.5 seconds.
Now this news of Tesla coming to India is surely exciting, but one thing is for sure, these cars will not be cheap.
