Bookings for the cars are already open on its website and the deliveries of the rear wheel drive will begin from later in Q3, and the long range rear-wheel drive in Q4. The company is also planning to introduce the Cybertruck in India. Both Mumbai and Delhi will have four charging stations each spread across Bandra Kurla Complex, Lower Parel, Thane and Navi Mumbai, Noida, Saket, Aerocity and Golf Course Road. Each will be equipped with 16 superchargers and 16 destination chargers. Every car owner in India will get a home charger free along with their vehicle. “The owner of the vehicle is connected through Tesla technology. Model Y is redesigned from end to end. Tesla vehicles direct the consumers to the charging stations,” said Isabel Fan, Senior Director, South Asia and Southeast Asia, Tesla. Mumbai will be the company’s headquarters as it begins operations in India. The company that has been testing Model Y in India for over two years has redesigned the vehicle for operations on Indian roads. The car will not have the self-driving (autopilot) feature in the country, as India does not have any legislation to regulate self-driving vehicles. “Model Y is the best-selling car among the 55 countries where we have presence. It will take some time to cover the whole country with our chargers, but we will start with Mumbai and then Delhi,” said Isabel Fan, Southeast Asia Director at Tesla in a media briefing. The company will also have a logistics hub and a servicing centre in Maharashtra. Tesla, which started its journey in 2008 with the Roadster, has eight models and has manufactured 8 million vehicles worldwide. The company has above 7,000 supercharging stations with above 70,000 superchargers. EV manufacturing While the cars displayed in the showroom were made in China, company officials were tight-lipped from where they would import the EVs to be sold in India. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed the hope that in future they would be made in India. “Tesla cars will be imported first, but we are hopeful that in future, it will be 100 per cent manufactured in India. This has started today as Maharashtra has a dynamic electric vehicle policy which provides charging infrastructures, reduced taxes on electric vehicles and manufacturing incentives,” said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while speaking to the media. Experts have pointed out that Tesla’s entry in India will increase consumer interest in electric vehicles in the country. Tesla’s initial impact may be more symbolic, it will undoubtedly elevate consumer awareness, spark greater interest in EVs and set new benchmarks in connected and autonomous mobility. This move will also encourage OEMs and ecosystem players to step up innovation and accelerate investments in Electric Vehicle infrastructure and technology.,” said Vinay Raghunath, Partner, Automotive and Mobility Sector Leader, EY India Local talent