– By Caroline Falls –
On one of the last days of winter I was waiting outside the Tesla showroom in Sydney’s Martin Place with a selected few from the fleet industry and we were already talking about the Tesla Model 3 before the doors opened to a special event. It was a night for fleet buyers to preview the Tesla electric car that’s touted as being priced to appeal to the fleet industry and mainstream new car buyers.
The big question in the FAN office was – Are any of these fleet people here to consider putting the Tesla Model 3 into their fleet? Or are they just here to gawk at the latest in car technology?
“It all depends on the price,” said one attendee, speaking to FAN but not wanting to go on record. “If it comes in at around or under $50,000 Australian dollars, that’s a reasonable price for a medium sized fleet vehicle.”
There’s little doubt about the Tesla’s appeal. It’s good looking, but there need to be more to it. The signature number plate on the car in the showroom said it: “Zero emissions”.
Any government or corporate Fleet Manager with an environmental mandate to reduce emissions is going to want to adopt a electric vehicle. Replacing a traditional petrol or diesel vehicle with an electric vehicle seems like an easy way to reach their corporate goals but so the vehicle options have been limited.
The Model 3 represents a shift towards everyday vehicles (not supercars) at the right price point to challenge the traditional internal combustion engine. And senior executives will surely become more interested in EVs when the Fleet Manager is introducing a brand with the reputation of Tesla.
Another attendee from a leading FMO said a lot also depended on residual value.
“The demand is there. A lot of people we service are interested in electric vehicles, particularly not-for-profits and government clients. But we are still worried if it’s going to be okay from a residual value point of view. The encouraging thing is that over the last couple of years we see the hybrid vehicles doing well and holding future value” said the guest not wanted to be quoted.
The first Australian orders for Tesla’s Model 3 aren’t expected to be filled until mid-2019. Currently, they’re hitting the streets in the U.S. at a retail price of US$35,000. In today’s currency exchange rate terms that’s equal to about A$48,600 — the right price point according to all guest FAN spoke with.
In the meantime, a lot will depend on the Australian dollar as to how competitively priced the Tesla Model 3 can be in the local market. If its final price is linked to the weakening Australian dollar against the US currency, the sub-$50k target may mean fleet buyers will have to keep waiting for the perfectly prices mid-size EV.
