American electric automaker Tesla is considering dipping its toes in India and has reportedly held talks with officials in Karnataka earlier this month for setting up a research facility in Bengaluru. A follow-up meeting is expected soon, according to the Economic Times.
The ET report said that Tesla has shown “initial interest” to set up a research and innovation facility in Bengaluru.
If Tesla chooses to set up shop in Bengaluru, it will join a list of companies such as Bosch, Mahindra Electric, Ather, Ola Electric and more in the electric mobility space.
Karnataka was the first one to have an electric vehicle policy that as aimed at promoting manufacture and the use of battery-run vehicles.
CEO Elon Musk has spoken about an India entry on some occasions earlier, however said that India’s high taxes makes it hard.
In August 2019 during a Twitter interaction, he said that he has been told that import duties are extremely high, which would make Tesla’s cars unaffordable.
“For other countries, we [Tesla] pay in part for the local factory by selling cars there ahead of time. Also, gives a sense of demand. Current rules in India prevent that, but recent changes in sales tax give hope for future changes,” he had said then.
In addition, on Sunday, just ahead of the Battery Day, Elon Musk said Tesla has a shot at a record September quarter for vehicle deliveries.
In a leaked email, the Tesla CEO told employees that with "all hands-on deck", they could achieve record deliveries, Electrek reported on Sunday.
"We have a shot at a record quarter for deliveries, but we'll have to rally hard to achieve it. This is the greatest number of vehicles per day that we would ever have to deliver," he wrote.
"Please consider vehicle deliveries to be the absolute top priority. It's also extremely important that we keep factory output as high as possible over the remaining 10 days. This is vital for the California market".
In the fourth quarter of 2019, Tesla delivered a record 112,000 vehicles.
In the June quarter this year, Tesla delivered 90,000 vehicles as it was affected by shutdown owing to the pandemic.
Tesla is set to showcase "many exciting things" at its Battery Day on September 22.
At the event at Tesla's Fremont factory in California, the company is expected to elaborate on its plan to secure battery cell supply to support its ambitious ramp-up of electric vehicle production.
Tesla has developed its own battery cell manufacturing process called "Roadrunner" that would support its plans to increase vehicle production.
The new battery manufacturing system is expected to be the main focus of the event.
Musk earlier suggested that Tesla may be able to mass produce longer-life batteries with 50 per cent more energy density in a couple of years.
With IANS inputs