Elon Musk, CEO and Co-founder of Tesla Motors, announced on Monday at the World Government Summit that online orders for Tesla Model S and Model X are being accepted for the UAE and the first few keys will be handed over in Dubai this summer.
The launch of the dedicated design studio website for UAE’s is accompanied by the opening of a pop-up store at Dubai Mall, which will provide an opportunity for customers to experience Tesla and learn about their products rather than being a point of sale. They will also open a service centre near the second interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road in July 2017. As for the capital, Tesla plans to open a store and service centre in Abu Dhabi next year.
Prices for the popular Model S sedan starts from AED 275,000 and AED 344,000 for Model X SUV. The top-dog Model S i.e. P 100D, with its superlative all-electric powertrain is claimed to have a range of upto 632 km on a single charge and is capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.7 seconds while the 7-seater Model X has a range of 565 km on a single charge and can go fast from zero to 100 kph in 3.1 seconds. You can also reserve the more affordable Model 3 hatchback for AED 4,000. It is expected to go on sale sometime in 2018, retailing at around AED 130,000.
Currently, there are 26 existing regular destination chargers spread across the country, including hotels and shopping malls, and Tesla plans to add more than 50 additional destination charging locations by the end of 2017. As for the quick-charging stations, Tesla has opened two ‘supercharging’ locations in the UAE, one at The Last Exit in Jebel Ali and another at the carbon-neutral Masdar City. They also plan to open five additional supercharger locations, by the end of 2017.
In an Q&A session with Elon Musk, he stated that “By next year, you’ll be able to travel anywhere (using electric cars), adding that charging locations will be also extended in Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia.” And he also admitted that it is a big challenge for his company to persuade the masses to shift to driving EVs or electric car but he also pointed out that the price of petrol price has risen in the last two years. He also mentioned that the cost to fill up a regular petrol-powered sedan car is $25 ( AED 91.50) but to charge an electric car fully takes just $10 (AED 36.60) with no additional cost for oil change. So there does seems to be a substantial saving for the owner.
In an effort to advocate the safety of Tesla vehicles, he mentioned “We’ve done hot-weather testing in Death Valley, California, regarded as the hottest place on Earth”. Elon said that as part of the hot weather testing in the region, a Tesla car was made to climb a steep mountain road in the middle of summer at noon time. “When we did this test we also sent a diesel-powered tow truck, in case of emergency. But it was the tow truck which broke down and the Tesla car was just fine,” Musk added. He also claims that Tesla’s cell battery are capable of operating even in 67°C heat but he also admitted that humidity, typical of UAE summers, can reduce the battery performance to as much as 10-15 per cent.
