The electric carmaker already produces right-hand drive cars and some of those cars will be shipped to India later this year.
While the company produces the Model Y at its unit near Berlin, it’s unclear which model Tesla planned to ship to India.
It comes days after reports surfaced that a Tesla team would travel to India later this month to scout sites for its potential $2 billion production unit.
Pushing its plans in India, electric car maker Tesla has reportedly produced cars at its factory in Germany for export to India later this year.
Sources told Reuters that the company has already started production of right-hand drive cars for the Indian market. “They have already started building the right-hand drive cars that will be delivered to India,” a source said.
Although the company produces the Model Y at its unit near Berlin, it was unclear which model Tesla planned to ship to India. According to the report, the EV giant is headquartered in its right-hand drive export hub of Shanghai. production, but it is looking to reduce its dependence on China.
“Tesla is already loading spare parts from India and is now contemplating cutting materials in China and making India a larger source hub,” one source was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the major EV company’s Indian allocation also separates investments in building a nationwide charging network.
It comes days after reports surfaced that a Tesla team was due to travel to India later this month to scout sites for its potential $2 billion production unit in the country. As part of this, the team is expected to travel to 3 states, namely Tamil. Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat, to determine the site of the plant, which is likely to be operational within two years.
Telangana also came to the fore when the Minister of Industry, D. Sridhar Babu said the government was in talks with Tesla to court the state-owned electric vehicle maker.
Meanwhile, DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh quoted Bloomberg that the ball is now in Tesla’s court, as the Center has already scaled back EV import tasks.
“We’re going to reach out to them by giving them contacts in the state . . . Contacts have been established with the state and central governments at this point. VinFast has already announced it and we’re expecting a few more,” Singh said, according to Bloomberg.
Last month, the central government unveiled a new policy under which it lowers import tax rates on certain electric cars if its brands invest at least $500 million in setting up a local factory and start production within three years. Under this program, companies can import up to 8,000 cars per year at reduced tax rates.
Tesla has accelerated its plans in India at a time when the adoption of electric cars is accelerating in the country. Driven by production-linked incentives (PLIs) and subsidies, the zone has noticed a slight increase in sales, especially in the two-wheeled electric vehicle segment.
According to government data, registrations of electric two-wheelers in the country reached a record high of 1. 36 Lakh in March this year, with Ola Electric topping the rankings.