There is no doubt that the Indian market is going to be flooded with electric cars quite soon. However, how can we not mention Tesla when talking about electric cars. Tesla may not have made the first electric car but they surely made the most talked about electric cars. A journey which started off with a small sports car called the Roadster and followed by the likes of the Model S and the Model X, Tesla had also announced a new, much affordable car called the Model 3. When the Model 3 was announced, there were many speculations of it being offered in India. Elon Musk too, has expressed his interest to enter the Indian market multiple times. However, the business tycoon recently said that the high import duties would make their cars Unaffordable in the Indian market, have a look.
I’m told import duties are extremely high (up to 100%), even for electric cars. This would make our cars unaffordable.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2019
Despite the government reducing the GST charge on electric vehicles, these cars still continue to attract import duties. According to our law, for a vehicle that costs more than INR 27 lakh, an import duty of 100% needs to be paid. Moreover, if the cost of the vehicle is less than 27 Lakh, a duty of 60% is charged. This would make a car like the Model 3 much more expensive than its conventionally fueled counterparts, thus making it unfeasible to own in our market. Moreover, the company also needs to see a demand and collect funds for setting up a factory, which is usually done by selling cars ahead of the factory set-up. However, Elon Musk further added that the new tax benefits seem to give Tesla hope for future changes.
For other countries, we pay in part for the local factory by selling cars there ahead of time. Also, gives a sense of demand. Current rules in India prevent that, but recent changes in sales tax give hope for future changes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2019
Also Read: All-Electric Variant Of The Mahindra KUV 100 Spotted
It seems that India is now ready to ride on the wave of electric vehicles. While our homegrown brands – Mahindra and Tata have already started to make an impact in the world of electric mobility, Hyundai brought a game-changer to the market. Their brand new Kona SUV is the first, long-range, all-electric SUV that we have got in our country. Moreover, we have many more, such all-electric models to be offered in our country soon. Tata has announced their plans to launch three new all-electric cars, along with an updated version of the Tigor electric. MG Motor and Audi too, will offer one electric SUV each before the end of the year. It sure would be fun to see Tesla join the bandwagon too.