India, Tesla’s Next Stop 🚏
To accelerate the advent of sustainable transport and electric technology
Tesla, the name sounds familiar, doesn’t it ❓ If it doesn’t, how about Elon Musk, does it sound familiar now 😂. If your answer is still no, then I must ask you to stop reading this already, cause before reading this, you need to do something else, that is, to get your mind in the right place, no offence guys 😃.
How about a little intro to Tesla, & Elon Musk for our fellow friends 🙎, who are probably out of their right minds, so that we can all enjoy this journey together 👪.
Tesla was founded in 2003 by a group of engineers 🚧 who wanted to prove that people didn’t need to compromise to drive electric — that electric vehicles 🚗 can be better, quicker and more fun to drive than gasoline cars. Today, Tesla builds not only all-electric vehicles but also infinitely scalable clean energy generation and storage products. Tesla believes the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better.
Gone a bit boring, isn’t it 😂? Let us mix some spices, shall we! Now, who is Elon Musk. He is a business magnate, industrial designer and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI.
I know, what all you are thinking right now. Has he left anything for others to achieve. As far as I know, I don’t think so 😂, still if you know something, do let me know in the comments. And oh, by the way, he is also the world’s richest 💰 man, on a side-note.
In short, he is the superset of Visionary, Engineer, Designer, and my personal favorite, Iron Man.
Now, let’s get to work, shall we? What is this article about? Is this about Tesla, or is this about Elon Musk, or is this about me, constantly cracking PJs 😂? Well, the answers are NO, NO and sadly 😢 NO.
If you have read the title of this article, then I am pretty confident that you already aware of the motive behind this article. Still, allow me to throw some light 🔦 on it. The primary goal behind this article is to explore the different perspectives of Tesla coming to India 🎊.
Yup guys, you heard it right, and your ears 👂 are not ringing. Tesla is finally coming to India, and very soon, if you are lucky, you might be able to see a driver-less car next to your car.
So, without any further ado, I invite you all to travel 🚃 along with me, on this electrically jolting journey 🔌.
The What, When, Where and How?
American clean-energy and electric-vehicle company Tesla is expected to begin its operations in India in the year 2021.
Union minister for road transport and highways of India, Nitin Gadkari confirmed on December 28, 2020 that the electric-car manufacturer would be arriving in India in early 2021. The company led by maverick billionaire Elon Musk will first start with sales and then look at assembly, if the demand requires it. The company had been in talks with India in the past, too, to enter one of the world’s largest markets. In 2016, bookings for the Tesla Model 3 had begun but the take-off stumbled on infrastructure issues.
The Model 3 Sedan will still be Tesla’s first car to offered in India and it will be done through the completely built unit (CBU) route. Other than the Model 3 Sedan, Tesla also has Model S and Model X in store for the automobile enthusiasts, and both of them are expected to launch before 2023. As far as the prices are concerned, Model 3 is expected to be priced around INR 60.00 Lakh, Model S is expected to be priced at INR 1.50 Cr, and Model X is leading the 3, with an expected price of INR 2.00 Cr.
Probable Target Audience of Tesla in India
I think it’s pretty clear from the prices stated above, that affording a Tesla, would still be a dream for most of the middle-class people in country, which accounts for the highest proportion of automobile consumption market, in India.
The primary aim of Tesla as of now, is to promote the culture of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in India, in order to establish well-built and strong foundations for Tesla in the future.
What changes Tesla might need to incorporate to adjust to the Indian Markets?
So, Tesla cars are coming to India, awesome 🌟, cool 🆒, amazing 😉, and blah blah. But the real question is SURVIVAL. We all are pretty well aware of the driving conditions in India and the respect that the Indian people give to the traffic rules 😅.
So, will the Tesla’s cars be able to survive on the Indian roads. That is a very big question, in fact one of the biggest questions, which can only be answered by the cars themselves, once they meet the narrow, half-broken and the not so spotless roads of India 😂.
Another prominent challenges that the Tesla will surely be facing, at the present moment is that India does not have proper charging infrastructure, which could be a big deterrent for EV car buyers, especially while traveling long distances, cause without charging your Tesla, the only way you can probably drive it, is to ask your friends to push it 😂.
Also, the self-driving feature in the Tesla cars, has still a lot to learn, if it needs to complete even a mile long journey without hitting someone, or something, for that matter.
Impact of this on the Indian Economy
As clearly depicted by the image above, and pretty obviously, being an engineer, what we care the most for, is a 6-figure job. So, Tesla coming to India, is surely a good sign 💲 for that.
But we must move further and look beyond it, and take a look at the bigger picture, that is, what does this mean for the Indian Economy, and how the Indian Economy is going to be affected by the same.
What does it mean for Indian automakers?
Tesla’s entry is expected to give a boost to the EV segment, which may result in a jump in demand for batteries 🔋. Besides, Tesla’s entry into India will be a good advertisement for India’s ambitions to be a global hub for manufacturing EVs but it will take time. And as I mentioned previously, Tesla is planning to enter India through a launch of its Model 3, which will range up to INR 60 lakhs, thus causing no threat to any of the domestic OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) initially. Also, the mode of manufacturing is quite uncertain as of now, so, Tesla’s entry will not impact the auto industry in the near to medium-term.
Do the Battery Manufacturers need to worry?
The entry of Tesla is also not going to hurt battery manufacturers in the near-to-medium term as the market for premium cars costing more than Rs 50 lakh is nascent and minuscule in terms of sale volumes in India.
What does the data suggests?
As India fights the pandemic, it has made quite a few practical choices. The air has never been cleaner. There has been an impact on the health sector 🏥, oil imports ⛽️, savings in foreign exchange 💵 but most importantly, it is believed that EV will have a substantial impact on all that. Data in-fact suggests that the consumer may pay 6 percent more on the purchase price of an EV but would ultimately incur running costs of around 60 percent less than an international combustion (IC) vehicle.
How will it benefit India as an investment hub?
Big battery players are already making a bee-line to set shop in India. The use of sodium ion and lithium ion entities are cases in point. Though China controls almost 80 percent of the world’s manufacturing on lithium-ion batteries, it is time for India to step into and take ownership of the sodium-ion ecosystem and, by virtue of that operation, annex the renewable energy space to some degree. India has the potential to lead in terms of next-generation technology with the use of sodium-ion. International manufacturers who conducted a feasibility study on this sector in India commented that the use of sodium-ion advocated high-performance technology. It is also low cost, sustainable, cleaner and it can be sourced and manufactured in India.
And here, we are approaching towards the end of this Journey. I really hope, that all enjoyed 😍 this piece of article 📖, regarding the march of Tesla to India.
If you want me to add any more information, on the points mentioned above, or even if I forgot to mention a point, do let me know in the comments section, and I will surely update the article 👍.
And if you like the article guys, do leave some claps 👏, and follow me on Medium, to read about more and more awesome 🌟 stuff.
That’s it for now, Guys, till the next time,
HAPPY LEARNING
If you are interested guys, you can read more about Elon Musk 😍 and his ventures here 👇
