New Delhi: US-based electric vehicle major Tesla on Wednesday said it aims to build charging infrastructure in India that is centred on varied customer lifestyles.The company, having already established a presence in Delhi and Mumbai, aims to build supercharging infrastructure and also offer home-charging solutions to customers as it looks to expand operations in the country.
Tesla, which has started deliveries of Model Y in India, also noted that customers can recover one-third of the vehicle cost over 4-5 years due to savings in fuel and regular maintenance. The prices of Model Y start from Rs 59.89 lakh in India."So the future roadmap will be to have a charging infrastructure to cover all major cities. We always build our infrastructure around the lifestyle of our customers, where they eat, where they work, where they go for staycations," Tesla India General Manager Sharad Agarwal said here.
The company on Wednesday launched the first Tesla Center at Orchid Business Park in Gurugram. The centre will provide all major services: retail, after-sales service, delivery and charging from one centralised location.Customers can learn about the latest EV technologies, enjoy test drive with Model Y, charge the vehicles with the V4 Superchargers and have after-sales support all in one integrated space, the company stated.
Tesla Centre is a bigger entity with retail, service, and delivery facilities, as compared with an experience centre, which is mostly into retail operations.Tesla opened its first experience centre in Mumbai in July, followed by a second experience centre in Delhi at Aerocity in August.Agarwal noted that the company now has three superchargers functional in Delhi and Mumbai, and is also activating one more in Gurugram.
He said that improving air quality in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, which grapple with severe pollution, requires shifting to electric mobility."We have delivered more than 8 million cars worldwide, which has helped reduce carbon emissions by 32 million tons. So that's the kind of sustainable future we are talking about," he added.This is very critical for a country like India, because air quality in cities like Delhi and Mumbai is among the worst, leading to many health issues, he noted.
"Our mission is to accelerate the world's transition towards sustainability. And when we are talking of this mission, we are also not only looking at the product, but also the way we sell to our customers, how we bring these products to our customers," Agarwal said.Tesla follows a direct-to-consumer sales model, which differs from the traditional way vehicles are sold in the market.Agarwal noted that the transition to emission-free mobility is required when air pollution takes a toll on people's health.
The company, which has started deliveries of Model Y in India, is looking to establish its presence across cities and tie up with hotels, etc., to enable charging for visiting guests.With the upcoming commissioning of the Gurugram charging station soon, Tesla will operate four charging stations across India, equipped with 16 superchargers and 10 destination chargers."Tesla's mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy... By building charging infrastructure that fits people's daily lives, we are making electric driving convenient for everyone in India," Agarwal said.
The network will expand rapidly for a seamless EV experience, he added."Our direct business model has sparked huge excitement for electric mobility, driving strong adoption and lasting confidence in sustainable transport across India," Agarwal said.On the viability of buying a higher-priced car like Tesla, he noted that customers can recover one-third of the Model Y's cost over 4-5 years due to savings in fuel and regular maintenance.
He noted that the software in Tesla cars keep updating over the years and so the resale value of the car remains high.Tesla had 250 updates on their vehicles in 2024. This year so far they have made 90 updates.The ex-showroom price for the Tesla Model Y in India starts at Rs 59.89 lakh for the base Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) model and goes up to Rs 67.89 lakh for the Long Range RWD variant.The base RWD model has a 64kWh battery with a claimed range of 500km, while the Long Range version has a 84.2kWh battery with a claimed range of 661km.
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