Tesla has officially launched its Supercharger network in Chile, which is the automaker’s first entry in South America.
The automaker has expanded its efforts across North America, and most countries in Europe, and it is still gradually expanding in Asia.
But there’s one continent that Tesla hasn’t touched yet: South America.
Late last year, we reported that this was about to change when Tesla started to list jobs in Chile.
A year later, things are starting to happen.
Tesla announced today that it officially launched its Supercharger network in Chile with the first two stations:
One is in Santiago, the country’s metropole, and the other one is in Curauma, on the coast.
Tesla has already opened two stores in Chile, both in Santiago, and the automaker has a service center in the work in the city also:
Tesla is already taking orders in the country and the Chilean Model Y configurator currently shows delivery in “October-November”:
Chile is an interesting choice for a first entry into the South American market. The Chilean auto market consists of only about 300,000 vehicles sold per year.
That’s roughly the number of vehicles sold in Brazil every month.
While the size of the auto market in the country is small, there’s a strong interest for electric vehicles there, which might explain Tesla’s foray.
The country is rich in lithium, a critical material for EV batteries, which has helped create interest for electric vehicles in the country. The government also announced an initiative to allow for only new sales of electric vehicles in the country starting in 2035.
It will be interesting to see how Tesla will compete with Chinese automakers who have so far been leading the electrification of South American markets.
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