American electric car maker Tesla looks set to finally come to India this summer. The company initially hinted at India launch plans in April last year. On Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed India launch is planned for the summer this year. Musk confirmed India launch plans on Twitter while replying to a user who asked, "Eagerly waiting for Tesla to launch in India. Any plans to do it? If so then When?" He replied, "Hoping for summer this year." Unfortunately, there are no more details about the India launch plans as of now.
Tesla's electric car launch in India will mean that the current competition in the segment will be ramped up. This will also mean that existing car manufacturers in India will be forced to launch more electric vehicles to counter Tesla.
Last year, Tesla added India in its list of countries which could pre-order the Tesla Model 3. The Tesla Model 3 starts at $35,000 (roughly Rs. 23 lakhs). For those users concerned about network of chargers to power Tesla's electric cars in India, Musk had previously confirmed that the car would come with an India-wide supercharger network. To refresh, Superchargers can charge Tesla cars from 0 to 100 percent in roughly 75 minutes and are currently offered free of cost to those who own Tesla cars. At the moment, it's unclear whether the network will be free for Model 3 owners in India.
Musk had earlier revealed plans for manufacturing operations with Gigafactory installations in India apart from some other countries due to high demand for its batteries and by looking at long-term view of his business. We can finally expect this to happen this year. Musk's plan for Tesla launch apart from the Gigafactory installation may work well with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision who previously reiterated the vision of 175 Gigawatts of clean energy by 2022 for the country, and the Gigafactory could help meet those goals. To recall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in 2015 after touring the American automotive company's campus had expressed interest in using Tesla's power storage technologies and its applications in rural areas.
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