Australia pricing for Tesla Model 3 could start at $60k, but hinges on Autopilot

The Driven

The arrival of the Tesla Model 3 in Australia is fast approaching, and the question on the lips of many a reservation holder – and there are believed to be thousands – is still this: how much will it cost?

Musk confirmed on the weekend that order pages for the RHD drive Model 3 will be online with weeks (and word is that this is for all RHD drive markets, which includes of course Australia), setting off discussion again about where the Model 3 will fit into the (limited) Australian EV market price-wise.

There are a number of theories, although as noted by Giles Parkinson in his article on how much the Model 3 will cost, Tesla is keeping tight-lipped.

However an email purported to be from Tesla written to a potential Australian customer has now come to light via a Whirlpool forum post that indicates that the Model 3 may start as low as $A60,000, although it comes with a big caveat about whether auto-pilot will now come standard, or remain an option.

The response is in-line with Musk’s tweets that the RHD order pages will soon be live, and that pricing as well as local specifications will be announced this quarter:

We don’t have an exact price or delivery date for Australia yet but we’re looking to confirm local specifications and pricing in the second quarter of this year and to begin local deliveries in the third quarter of this year.

We will be inviting reservation holders to choose their options and place their order early-to-mid 2019 and will be sending out these invitations in batches. The cars will then be built and shipped to Australia, this typically takes 3 months.

Read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven…

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

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