Where to Buy the World’s Cheapest and Most Expensive Tesla

Mainland China is the cheapest place in the world to buy a Model Y. After a price cut last month, the Model Y starts at 288,900 yuan ($40,500), a little more than half the U.S. retail price. Singapore, on the other hand, is the most expensive place in the world to own a Tesla: The island nation will set you back S$142,471 ($103,800) for the four-door SUV — and that’s before GST and registration taxes, which can make the overall Double the price.

Bloomberg has compiled the most expensive and cheapest places to buy a Model Y based on the starting cash prices for each country and region shown on Tesla’s official website. Here is the leaderboard:

“Vehicle prices are generally higher in places like Singapore and Israel because of higher taxes, duties and registration fees than in China and Europe,” said Seth Goldstein, equity strategist at Morningstar Research Services and chairman of the Electric Vehicle Council. And the level of competition in the market is also a pricing factor.

In fact, buying a Tesla in Singapore can cost as much as a condo. The reason cars in the city-state are so expensive is because there are only a limited number of licenses available (to control traffic growth on the small island). The permits must be bid on in twice-monthly auctions and allow drivers to own a car for 10 years. Tesla’s licenses rose to a record S$116,577 in November – almost as much as the Model Y itself.

The steep price tag hasn’t stopped some from making the leap. Finance expert Alexander Ang bought a Model Y in June and took delivery of the EV in September. This is his first electric car.

“Of course, it’s definitely expensive, but it’s the same for any car in Singapore,” Ang said. “Similarly sized EVs from other manufacturers are more expensive than Teslas because of the extra dealer fees, and they don’t have enough legroom in the rear.”

Ang doesn’t necessarily consider himself a Tesla fan, but said the company gave him the “best value for money” option when it comes to driving experience. Cheaper EV options are rare in Singapore, especially for the size of the vehicle he wants. “The options are limited,” he said.

A completely different story is playing out in China — the world’s largest electric vehicle market, and a highly competitive one. A slew of local rivals, from traditional automakers such as BYD Co to upstarts such as NIO, are rapidly closing in on Tesla with new model launches and promotions. Domestic automakers accounted for nearly 80% of EV sales in the first seven months of 2022, according to the China Passenger Passenger Association.

To compete, Tesla rolled out a series of marketing tactics to lure customers after its price change in October, including extending insurance subsidies for new buyers, reviving a user referral program and even placing ads on local TVs. That’s because its sales in China have fallen from their peak and wait times have shrunk to just one week, down from 22 weeks earlier this year — a sign of a slowdown in order intake and reflecting Tesla’s recent upgrades in Shanghai. production capacity. Tesla gets nearly a quarter of its revenue from China, and an imbalance in demand could derail Chief Executive Elon Musk’s ambitious goal of growing annual global sales by 50 percent in the next few years.

Further price cuts are also likely in Tesla’s other key markets, including the U.S. and Europe, Morningstar’s Goldstein said. “If we see a slowdown in 2023, we’ll probably see lower commodity prices, so input costs will come down,” he said. “If that happens, I would expect Tesla and most other automakers to cut prices again to boost demand.” Musk himself hinted at that possibility earlier this year.

Regardless, amid the news of vehicle deliveries dropping last quarter, it’s easy to overlook just how good the Model Y really is. The SUV is expected to sell 760,000 units in 2022, according to BloombergNEF estimates.

With new factories in Austin, Texas, and near Berlin opening in 2023, Tesla may finally be able to lay claim to being the best-selling car in the world — as Musk himself boldly predicted last year.

First published date: Nov 28, 2022 at 10:17am CST