Don't some(most?) of the supercharger facilities include a PV array, or at least association with a Tesla owned one. The electricity isn't free. It costs $2000 to $2500 for a car to have access, and Tesla is selling electricity they generate to the grid. Considering that Teslas are a small number of cars on the road, and most(likely all) people charge at home for day to day driving, the company could be making money on the energy sold. This could change as the Teslas on the road increase. I think we'll still see this model with the E. After that, i think Tesla will move to a subscription service for the cheaper models, and possibly for competitors models, after. Payment will be done online, the car and charger already 'talk' to each other, so an access code will just be downloaded directly to the car. How much of that could be to import taxes, and European Union politics?
10% and 20% sales tax vat. But it is STILL more expensive. I appreciate our cars cost more but the Tesla appears out of skew.
I think you are just getting rob in the UK by somebody. In France the S starts at around 65k euros. With a 19.6% VAT, that is close to US pricing. Maybe a couple thousand dollars more, but I'm using lazy man math.
I've looked into the figures for the 60 kwh version and it appears it's about inline with our prices. I was looking at the $63,000 60 kwh version which would work out about £39,000 + import + vat = £51,400. That is more like it for pricing.
Do you expect a new start-up company to be able to produce a luxury car and sell it for economy-car prices? Tesla's goal is to build affordable EVs, but the Model S was never intended to be a car for the masses. It was and is intended to be a car to build the company to the point where they will be able to build a car for the masses.
I'd better add an update. The Telsa S has been priced very competitively starting at £50,000 (remember our 20% vat/sales tax) upto the top end at £70,000 (both after the £5,000 grant). Model S Design Studio | Tesla Motors To compare the base Prius is £21,845, the PIP is £28,245 after the £5,000 grant and a Leaf starts at £20,995 again after grant. Effectively the Tesla S is double a top end Prius or Leaf and makes the PIP look positively over priced for 12 miles range! Well done Tesla. Not quite the rich mans curio I once thought. I wish them success.
What are the qualifications for the grant? Here it is based on battery size. SO the PPI wouldn't get as much credit as a Leaf.
That is simpler than a tax credit. Of course it is simpler for the company to adjust the price to reflect it.
