Tesla (TSLA) Plans Rapid U.K. Expansion Starting in 2014
The Financial Times (FT) interviewed Musk over the weekend. In part, the executive said he planned to set up his company's Supercharger network across the U.K. by the end of 2014, which is a similar time horizon for the company's German expansion.
You’ll be able to travel anywhere in the U.K., anywhere at all, using our supercharger network,Musk quipped to the FT.
I am hopeful, and we will certainly aspire to this, to have the whole of the U.K. done by the end of next year; so it’s quite rapid.
Musk thinks Tesla's investment in the U.K. will
work out fairly well.
The U.K. roll-out will commence in Q114. An entry-level Model S sedan will become available in the U.K. in March 2014 with a starting price of £55,000.
Notably, this is a lot later than other markets, like Germany and Norway, which have been able to purchase a Model S for months. When they are available, of course.
In the U.K., Model S buyers will enjoy a £5,000 incentive from the government under its
Plug-In Car Grant,which was passed in January 2011. The program is expected to begin phasing out soon and it wasn't made clear whether a new set of incentives would be put in place. As of September 2013, the U.K. government was said to spend about £11 million on the scheme.
Tesla shares are positive in early trading Monday.