The long wait for customers of Tesla Model 3 electric cars in Australia may soon be over, after a ship carrying an estimated 800 China-made Model 3s arrived over the weekend.
According to the dedicated – and usually accurate – Tesla shipping watcher on Twitter, Veda Prime, the ship Tokyo Car arrived in Port Kembla on Sunday, and is rumoured to be carrying more than 800 Model 3 Tesla EVs that were made in China.
This will be the first significant delivery in Australia of Model 3 cars made in the recently completed Shanghai giga-factory, and which will feature the new, and supposedly cheaper but heavier lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery made by Chinese battery maker CATL.
That could deliver a longer driving range for the Tesla Model 3, particularly in the SR+ versions, but there are not signs yet tat the price will come down, despite the US price of some models being reduced last week.
Some Australian customers have been waiting since last November for their Model 3s but may have to wait another week or two before getting delivery of their vehicles, depending on location.
And it appears that the Shanghai factory is not yet making performance versions of the Model 3, so those customers are being told on the Tesla order page they may have to wait until June.
The cars that are being delivered will need to clear customs first, according to Veda Prime, spend a week in inspections and then be transported by road for cleaning and detailing and then distribution from the main centres. Tesla will likely try and ensure all our delivered before the end of March, ensuring they are included in the first quarter stats.
Note: If you are ordering a Tesla, you can use this code to obtain 1,500kms of free supercharging. The code needs to be inserted at time of ordering. https://ts.la/giles20203
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.