After Tesla announced that it has registered a subsidiary company in India, it has been quiet since. No major developments have been reported since then, until now. It is being reported that the American EV manufacturer is now scouting for showroom spaces in three Indian cities. Tesla is looking for commercial properties as large as 20,000-30,000 square feet each to open showrooms and service centres in the capital New Delhi, financial hub Mumbai in the west and tech city Bengaluru in the south.
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The report states that the company has hired an executive to complete the groundwork ahead of its planned entry into the Indian market.
Tesla has recruited Manuj Khurana, a former executive of India’s investment promotion body Invest India, in the first major hire to lead its policy and business development efforts in the country. Khurana has previously been on a government panel on the future of transportation led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top scientific adviser. In his new role, he is also handling Tesla’s market-entry process in India.
Like we mentioned earlier, Tesla has also registered itself in India. According to a Registrar of Companies (RoC) filing, the new entity Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited is registered in Bengaluru, Karnataka and is classified as a subsidiary of a foreign company. It has also registered its office in Lavelle Road, a business district in the southern city, with paid-up capital of ₹1 lakh and authorised capital of ₹15 lakh, according to the filing. Tesla has named Vaibhav Taneja, Venkatrangam Sreeram and David Jon Feinstein as the three directors in the newly formed entity in the country.
Tesla Model 3
We believe that Tesla is going to enter India riding on the Model 3. Tesla Model 3 is among the most affordable models of Tesla till date. The car was first rolled out in 2017 and has emerged as the world’s best selling all-electric car. Tesla will import the vehicles as completely built units, with the capability of charging in 15 minutes. Tesla’s Model 3, along with Model Y, accounted for nearly 89% of Tesla’s total sales in the third quarter of 2020.
Model 3 draws power from a Li-ion battery with dual motors which digitally distribute torque to both axles as required by the conditions. It is offered in 3 variants – Standard plus, Long Range AWD and performance with 0-97 kph taking 5.3s in Standard Plus and an outrageous 3.1s in the Performance. The range varies from 424 Km on the Standard Plus to 568 Km on Long-Range AWD while the Performance can go on for 507 km on a single charge. Tesla’s network of Superchargers across the world also helps charge up the juice in the battery, while a battery swap is also possible in the Tesla making it easier for the user.