Tesla fans in India might not need to wait too long to see the electric car maker come to the country’s car market. During a recent interaction with Indian students that participated in SpaceX’s 2019 Hyperloop Pod Competition, Elon Musk stated that Teslas could be running on Indian roads in 2020.
Musk’s update was related to the Avishkar Hyperloop team from IIT Madras, who competed in the 2019 Hyperloop Competition in Hawthorne, CA. While speaking with the team, the students asked Musk when he was planning to bring Tesla to India. Musk’s answer was direct, according to IIT Madras in a statement to the IANS on Friday.
“Musk said it is probably going to happen in a year’s time,” the school noted.
Tesla’s entry into the Indian market has pretty much been up in the air for years, though Musk tweeted last March that he would love to bring the electric car maker to the Asian country in 2019 or 2020. The Tesla CEO has also remarked that so far, it is government regulations that are currently preventing Tesla from easily breaching the country’s car market.
“Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately,” Musk previously tweeted.
The Indian auto market could prove to be a notable opportunity for Tesla. Last year alone, India’s auto sector showed a production growth of 8%, which is remarkable considering that several international markets are showing signs of an impending decline. India’s electric car segment is open for saturation as well, as the country’s mainstream market is still heavily saturated by low-cost gas and diesel-powered cars.
Despite not being in the market yet, Tesla has already started developing a dedicated following in India. A recent study from Compare the Market, a UK-based price comparison company, for example, has shown that the Tesla Model 3 is the most-searched-for electric car in the country. This was despite Tesla not having a single store in India.
A key vehicle for Tesla’s impending ramp to India will be the Model 3, which is the company’s most affordable vehicle in its lineup. Musk has also mentioned during the Q2 2019 earnings call that he believes long-term demand for the Model 3 could hit as high as 15,000 units per week. Once Tesla enters India, a notable portion of that estimate would likely correspond to demand for the vehicle in the Asian country.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
