Source: Tesla Canada
Australians will be able to order Tesla’s best-selling Model 3 electric sedan within just a few weeks, it has been confirmed by the electric carmaker’s CEO and founder Elon Musk.
It’s a moment that is keenly awaited by many electric car enthusiasts as the Californian carmaker has been making ready to begin production of the Model 3 for right hand drive markets.
Musk tweeted on Friday that the UK configurator page for the Model 3 would be live this week in the UK, with other right hand drive markets – including Australia – following shortly thereafter.
This was followed by a flurry of tweets regarding the announcement which has seen the hashtag #Model3AU trending on the popular social media platform.
In addition to RHD order pages for the Model 3 going live, Tesla has also extended its current referral program from 1,500km of free Supercharging for anyone using a referral code when purchasing any Tesla car to 7,500km.
Any orders placed starting yesterday until May 28, 2019, will receive the free 7,500km Supercharging, while the referrer will go into a draw to win a Founders Series Model Y or Roadster with each referral.
This means that as long as the order page goes live before the end of next month’s end, Australian buyers will have the opportunity to benefit from the 500% hike in free Supercharging.
While an exact date for when the Model 3 order page goes live is still not forthcoming from Tesla, it has been known for some weeks now that the start of RHD builds for Australia is fast approaching.
In late March, Musk confirmed in response to a question from Tesla fan @TeslaGong as to when deliveries would start.
“Probably start Australia builds in late May or June & start arriving in winter,” Musk tweeted in response.
The price for the Model 3 in Australia is also still an unknown, although numerous theories have been put forward, the latest of which takes into account the fact that Autopilot will now be standard for all Tesla cars going forward.
The announcement that the Model 3 will be available to order within weeks in Australia came hotly on the heels of other news from the EV maker – that all new Model S and X vehicles will benefit from an upgraded drivetrain effectively extending their range to up to 595km without the need for a larger battery.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.
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