Electric car major Tesla to enter India with Model 3; global rollout in 2017

US-based electric car major Tesla will enter India with the recently launched Model 3 while the company will begin global rollout of the vehicle in late 2017. The automaker had last night unveiled the car in the US and announced orders at a starting price of USD 35,000, limiting it two units per person. Tesla, however, didn’t elaborate on the India launch date.

“Adding several more countries to Model 3 order page tonight. Check for details, but will include India, Brazil, SA, SK, NZ, Sing(apore) & Ireland,” Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted.

The company said the production of Model 3 is scheduled to begin in late 2017.

“When production begins, we will begin deliveries in North America starting on the West Coast, moving east. As we continue to ramp production, we will begin deliveries in Europe, APAC and right-hand drive markets,” it said.

It is not possible to ship to all regions simultaneously because regulators in each part of the world have slightly different production requirements, it added.

“Staggering deliveries in this way also allows us to provide the best possible customer experience,” Tesla said.

Model 3 will be Tesla’s most affordable car yet and achieves 215 miles of range per charge while starting at USD 35,000 before incentives. The company’s others models include Model S and Model X.

Last September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Tesla’s facility in San Jose and showed keen interest in some of their path breaking inventions, particularly in the renewable energy sector which can have multiple applications in remote rural areas.

In 2014, Tesla had said it was keen to enter the Indian market and even identified the country as one of the possible locations to set up a manufacturing plant in Asia.

It, however, said high duty on imported vehicles and lack of a separate category for electric cars prevented it from selling vehicles here despite having a huge potential.

India imposes 60 per cent customs duty on import of completely-built electric cars priced less than USD 40,000. If the electric car is assembled in India, the customs duty on the completely knocked down units in 10 per cent.