After a botched attempt to enter the country a few years ago which has led to this tweet by Elon Musk, Tesla has once again brought its electric vehicles (EV) to Singapore. It has joined the likes of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Macau as the official markets for Tesla in Asia.
At this moment, only Model 3 is available for purchase through Tesla Singapore’s official website which apparently takes around 12 to 14 weeks to be delivered. Without a Certificate of Entitlement (COE), the Standard Range Plus model which has a rear-wheel drive motor, 0-100 km/h acceleration rate of 5.6 seconds, 225 km/h top speed, and an estimated range of 448 km is priced from SGD 112,845 (~RM 344,433) onwards.
For the Performance model which has a dual motor and all-wheel drive capability alongside a longer travel range of 567 km, it starts at SGD 154,815 (~RM 472,522). Equipped with 20-inch Uberturbine wheels, lowered suspension, performance brakes, carbon fibre spoiler, aluminium alloy pedals, and access to Track Mode, this particular variant also offers higher top speed at 261 km/h and much faster acceleration rate of 3.3 seconds.
Tesla also provides the self-driving option for the Model 3 although customers need to fork out an additional SGD 11,500 (~RM 35,100) to install the self-driving computer into their car. Once enabled, customers can have their Model 3 change lane and park automatically as well as summon the car to come to them.
While the price tag can be deemed as premium, some have pointed out that the Singaporean pricing for Model 3 is quite competitive. To put things into perspective, here is how much a Toyota Camry costs in Singapore:
Tesla re-entry into the Singaporean market is yet another interesting chapter for the South East Asian’s EV industry. Recently, the Indonesian government has invited Elon Musk to utilise the country’s massive nickel reserve for battery production and the Thai government has also revealed its intention to boost the production of EV over there.
Given that these three countries are our closest neighbours, Malaysia may feel the heat in some way or another. However, we doubt that Tesla is going to set up shop in Malaysia until our government finally makes up its mind and come out with a clear policy for the EV industry.
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