Tesla officially launches Model Y in India

After more than a decade of back-and-forth discussions and delays, Tesla has officially entered the Indian market. The company today inaugurated its first showroom in Mumbai and introduced the new Model Y as its maiden product in the country.

Image: Office of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra

The EV maker has opened its doors to Indian customers at Maker Maxity Mall in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), one of the costliest commercial hubs in Mumbai. The company has leased a 4,000 sq. ft. space for its showroom and calls it the ‘Tesla Experience Centre BKC.’ It is displaying two units of the new Model Y there, one finished in Pearl White Multi-Coat and the other in Ultra Red.

Indian customers have a choice of two variants for the new Model Y: Standard Range RWD and Long Range RWD. The base variant accelerates from 0 to 100 kph in 5.9 seconds, achieves a top speed of 201 kph, and delivers a WLTP range of 500 km. The top variant cuts the 0-100 kph sprint time to 5.6 seconds, maintains the 201 kph top speed, and travels a much longer distance of 622 km on a full charge, also as per WLTP.

Tesla is importing the new Model Y as a completely built-up unit (CBU) from Gigafactory Shanghai in China and has no immediate plans to localise it in India. Even though the country introduced the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SPMEPCI), supposedly also to attract Tesla production.

Due to the steep tariffs of up to 110% the government levies on CBUs, the EV has turned out to be quite expensive. Its final price comes down to a staggering 6,107,190 rupees (approx. 60,900 euros) in the Standard Range RWD variant and 6,915,190 rupees (approx. 69,000 euros) in the Long Range RWD variant, both on-road.

The new Model Y’s options are also pricey, but considerably cheaper than in Europe. Tesla offers only the Stealth Grey colour as a no-cost paint choice and charges 95,000 rupees (947 euros) for Pearl White Multi-Coat and Diamond Black, 125,000 rupees (1,247 euros) for Glacier Blue, and 185,000 rupees (1,845 euros) for Quicksilver and Ultra Red. Both variants feature an all-black interior, but customers can opt for a two-tone black and white theme instead for an additional 95,000 rupees (947 euros).

Considering India’s poor road quality, Tesla does not give customers an option to upgrade the standard-fit 19-inch Crossflow wheels to the 20-inch Helix 2.0 wheels, which it offers as a paid option in other markets. Capitalising on the growing hype of automated driving features in the country, it does offer Full Self-Driving for 600,000 rupees (5,983 euros) extra.

The US carmaker has now started accepting orders for the new Model Y in India. It charges a non-refundable deposit of 22,220 rupees (€222) at the time of placing the order and an additional 300,000 rupees (approx. 3,000 euros) within one week. The first Model Y Standard Range RWD will then roll to Indian customers by September, followed by the Model Y Long Range RWD in the fourth quarter.

India could help Tesla sales

Tesla had begun seeking regulatory approval from local authorities in March, starting the process to homologate its EVs for the Indian market. The first camouflaged models were spotted just one month later.

And the road to that point had already been rocky. There had been talks about reducing the tariff from the current maximum of 110% for US-made cars, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi even met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the White House at the time. Just a week after meeting Musk, the Modi government considered allowing automakers to import up to 50,000 electric cars with a minimum CIF value of 35,000 dollars (approx. 33,000 euros) annually at a concessional 15% customs duty under the scheme, raising the current cap of 8,000.

Such an amendment could be a shot in the arm for Tesla, which saw a sales dip last year and in the first half of this year. However, the final decision has not yet been communicated.

Tesla is also building a small Supercharger network in and around Mumbai. The first location is close to the Tesla Experience Centre BKC, and another one down south in Lower Parel. The company also confirmed one Supercharger site each in Thane and Navi Mumbai, two satellite cities within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Tesla is targeting some of the most affluent customers in India’s western part with the Mumbai showroom. Later this month, it will likely open a showroom in Delhi, eyeing similar clientele in the country’s north. Local reports indicate the company will later expand to even the southern part, setting up a retail space in Bengaluru, which has particularly high EV adoption and offers one of the best charging infrastructures in the country.

x.com, tesla.com, indiatoday.in, bloomberg.com