Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave an interview to Channel 4’s Jon Snow last night during the Prince’s Trust Leadership Dinner in London. Musk said that Tesla plans to sell the upcoming Model 3 in the UK for “£30,000 or less“.
At the current currency exchange rate, 1 British Pound is equal to 1.43 US dollar, which would make the starting price of the Model 3 in the UK equivalent to $42,835 “or less”. It’s significantly more expensive than the expected US base price of $35,000, but still a much lower entry point to get a Tesla in Great Britain since the cheapest Model S starts at £51,900.
Musk is coming back from a trip in Hong Kong during which he said he feels “pretty optimistic” about the Model 3.
Tesla is developing a new platform and battery architecture for the Model 3. The vehcile is expected to be a 4-door sedan about 20% smaller than the Model S and be able to travel about 200 miles on a single charge. The automaker is expected to unveil the Model 3 in March. Reservations should be available at the unveiling, but the vehicle is not expected to hit the market in the US until late 2017 with a later introduction in the UK.
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That “£30,000“ ($42K) might include VAT, which is around 20% in EU.
Tesla generally includes VAT in its advertised prices. Isnt it a requirement in EU?
$35,000 with the current exchange rate you put forward (1.43) is about £24,500, if you include VAT of 20% (standard UK rate) you get: 35000/1.43×1.20 = 29,370.
So his comment of £30,000 seems pretty accurate (even on the low side, considering shipping costs and the like).
Don’t read into what Elon says as gospel. He’s very off the cuff with his comments and I very much doubt he goes into interviews with everything as far as prices are concerned all figured in advance. He’s never given line by line points on anything they’re working on and what they’re going to charge. I miss George Blankenship, he was much more informative with his comments than Elon.