Why Tesla hasn't entered the Indian market yet?

 Why Tesla hasn't entered the Indian market yet?

What is Tesla?

  Tesla is one of the world’s most valuable car company with a market share of over $382 billion (Rs 28 lakh crore). It is worth quite Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Ferrari, GM, BMW, Honda, and Volkswagen combined. It has a presence everywhere on the planet including US, China, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, just about everywhere in Europe, Jordan, the UAE, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea , Australia, and New Zealand.

Why Tesla Hasn't Entered the Indian Market?

  There are quite a couple of excellent reasons that are keeping Tesla from coming to India but here are a number of the important ones - the cash problem, wealth distribution, lack of electrical vehicle (EV) Infrastructure including crazy roads and EV charging stations, along side protectionist government policies favouring local manufacturers. Let me tell you in detail:

• The Money Problem: the most cost effective electric Tesla has on the market immediately , the Model 3, with none of the bells and whistles that Tesla is understood for, costs $37,990 (Rs 28 lakh). For a rustic , like India, where the typical income of a daily person is Rs 1.76 lakh ($2,338) once a year , the value of shopping for a Tesla is above in most countries. How High? Well, if you ignore expenses like rent, food, their telephone bill, and transportation, and therefore the insane import tax, it might take quite 16 years for a mean Indian to save up enough to buy a Tesla.

• Infrastructure Problems (Crazy Roads and Lack of EV Charging Stations): Firstly, let's talk about India's crazy roads. We know that each one Tesla's electric cars now accompany Autopilot pre-installed. Considering the unique problem of Indian roads in terms of potholes and speed breakers that kills hundreds every year and crowded roads, Tesla's autopilot could end up killing more people than making life easier.
  
  Then we've the matter of the shortage of electrical vehicle charging stations. There are approximately 250 charging stations in India. Now, consistent with Inc42, India has barely sold 8000 electric cars within the last 6 years. That means India not only features a lack of EV charging stations but there aren’t enough electric cars on the road either. Also, when it involves electric charging stations, distribution is that the key. Majority of the charging stations in India are located in metros, while some states don’t even have one EV charging station. This is one more reason why Tesla isn't in India yet.

• Government Policies favouring Local Manufacturers: Take for example the import tax. For cars that cost more than $40,000 (Rs 30 lakh), import tax is an insane 100% and 60% if the car costs less than $40,000 (Rs 30 lakh). Tesla usually funds the development of its factories with the cash that it makes from Tesla sales within the country that the factory is made in. Of course, the difficulty here is that Tesla can’t sell its cars in India because they won’t make any money from them due to the import tax. No money means no factory. Which means no Tesla in India.

What is the solution to this?

  Firstly, policy reform. What if the Indian government were to make an exception? For example, they could temporarily waive these taxes on a case-by-case basis for EV manufacturers who are willing to commit to building EV factories and charging stations in India. This would be a win-win for India and foreign EV manufacturers.

  Second, Elon Musk can take a totally different approach - offering energy solutions to Indians via Tesla Energy. And this could be a huge opportunity for Tesla - in fact, it could be a much more lucrative opportunity than electric vehicles, because the demand for a predictable, consistent supply of electricity is far above the demand for luxury electric cars. Then, once they’ve established an edge within the Indian energy space, they might be during a better position to tackle the EV market.

  Thirdly, it’s well-known that India has more two-wheelers than cars. So, what if Elon Musk focused on launching Superbikes in India instead of cars?

Posts before October 2021 have been marked as "Old Posts". Less likely, but they might have out dated or incorrect information, ugly looking bits of code, no labels, etc. Don't get me wrong, many of these posts are top-notch and interesting too.

I thought it would be better not to delete or revamp these posts, even if they suck. The bitter truth is that old works always suck, but I take that as a positive tool to convey that I am growing. Besides there's no better way to showcase my journey without these old, messy, poorly written posts!

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