Tesla sports car returns to electrify roads [News]

July 21, 2011 by Eugene Tay
Filed under News

By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 21 Jul 2011.

MOTORISTS here who want to draw envious stares while feeling environmentally friendly will soon be able to get behind the wheel of the world’s first electric sports car.

The Tesla Roadster is being imported by a local firm after its American maker closed its Singapore office without clinching any sales.

Prices will start at about $520,000, including a Category B certificate of entitlement.

The 288-horsepower two-seater can go from 0-100kmh in four seconds, hit a top speed of 201kmh, and has a range of 500km in optimal driving conditions.

The firm, FSG Mobility Concepts, claims there will be a strong demand from luxury goods buyers keen to make a fashion statement while displaying their green credentials.

So far, about a dozen people have taken the Roadster for a test drive since FSG opened a showroom in Jalan Kilang Barat. No one has made a booking yet.

But there have been three pre-bookings for its Tesla Model S sedan, which will be available in early 2013 for about half the price of the Roadster.

Tesla Motors, the American manufacturer of the cars, pulled out in February, just half a year after it opened its office at Suntec City.

The withdrawal was due to its inability to get a tax break from the Government’s Transport Technology Innovation and Development Scheme, which would have brought Roadster prices down to about $250,000.

When asked why it thinks it can succeed where Tesla Motors did not, FSG said one of its selling points will be its after-sales service.

It said it is in a good position to offer this service because its parent company EV Hub has experience in converting petrol-driven cars to electric ones.

The firm, which has converted a Porsche 911, a BMW 5 series and a Kangoo goods van, has had ‘hundreds of people’ come asking for the same to be done to their combustion-engine cars, said its managing director David Chou, 41. He added that it can handle minor repairs to the Roadster and Model S, and will engage Tesla engineers for major repairs.

‘If you’re buying a car at that price point, you want to have some level of confidence in who’s servicing your car.’

Mr Chou said FSG, which will officially launch its showroom this evening, will buy the cars directly from Tesla for sale here.

About 1,700 Roadsters have been sold worldwide since their launch in 2008.

Talking about the car’s range, Mr Chou said: ‘You can get from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on $13 worth of electricity.’

Its lithium batteries can be charged by an ordinary household socket, but due to a lack of public charging infrastructure, the car is practical only for those living in landed property.

Tesla has said it will make 2,400 of the current version and stop after the end of this year, when its contract with Lotus Cars to make the bodywork ends.

Besides the Roadster, there are only a few electric cars here, most brought in under a $20 million, three-year government trial scheme for companies and organisations which began this year.

The scheme, comprising a test fleet of 90 electric vehicles, is to evaluate how suitable electric cars are for use here. Most test vehicles will be arriving between now and next year.

Source: The Straits Times