New Zealand

Hi Peter

Tesla fan & shareholder , not sure about ordering Model S due to use on mountain skifields roads, considering waiting on Model X
Do you have a delivery date for you Model S

Rob

The 'generously proportioned' New Zealand Transport minister Gerry Brownlee has just tried a Tesla and it seems to have had an effect.
Minister Switches on to electric
Perhaps now is the time to lobby him for lower fees and charges for EV's?

Yes I read that article. It seems Gerry is postive about Tesla and it's future. This is the first time I have seen a National party government minister push the interest and introduction of EV's in NZ> There now needs to be some form of incentive structure set up in NZ, hopefully sooner rather than later >>

Regards, Peter

sablesands said:

Yes I read that article. It seems Gerry is postive about Tesla and it's future. This is the first time I have seen a National party government minister push the interest and introduction of EV's in NZ> There now needs to be some form of incentive structure set up in NZ, hopefully sooner rather than later >>

Regards, Peter

Click to expand...

Time for you guys to start a letter writing campaign given that your current government is likely to be returned at the next election. Here in Oz, we are so cash strapped, that i cant see a Liberal government doing anything despite a comittment to "direct action".

Tesla Fan Webpage - New Zealand

I agree with you, we need to lobby the right people to make it work. Having said that, there certainly is some good interest in NZ from the general public for Tesla. I have in fact set up a freelance "Tesla Fan Page" using my "bluehydrogen" company domain. Am getting at least one click a day on my reservation link which goes direct to the Tesla Australia resevations page.

My Fan webpage page is at: Bluehydrogen

Cheers, Peter

Hello to all Tesla Fans and Owners in New Zealand!

I'm a kiwi living in Norway and I have owned my Model S since 7th September last year. We're planning to move back to NZ later this year and I just found out that I can't bring my LHD Model S back with me (or rather, I can't register it for use on NZ roads) - unless the NZTA deems her to have "historic value"... We did win the Electric Marathon (12 days from Saint Petersburg to Monaco) with her last year and this year she helped to set a new world record for longest continuous line of EV's driving on public roads... but I doubt if the NZTA will consider those as worthy reason.

I was planning to use her to help accelerate the shift to EV's in NZ (now seriously behind most parts of the world). Besides my broad experience of Tesla I also have a lot of experience, understanding and useful contacts from the EV lobby here in Norway...

My game plan in short:
1. Bring Model S to NZ.
2. Offer all politicians a free test-drive (my time, my cost).
3. They will want one and will change the laws to facilitate getting one.
4. I'll show them the way with examples from Norway.

Umm... so with that plan in jeopardy...
1. Do any of you know the options for getting a RHD MS to NZ?
2. What are Tesla's plans to open shop in NZ?
3. How does it work buying from Oz?

Lobbying (side-note):
In lobbying for the EV cause, please try to avoid the word "incentives" and I think we will make faster progress. Lower taxation of EV's, such as we have here in Norway, is in no way an INCENTIVE, but rather totally fair "user pays". Those who contribute to massive oil spills, environmental destruction and chocking up our atmosphere (by purchasing and burning fossil fuels) must pay for their share of the damage (via higher taxation on such resources and the machines that consume them).

There is no doubt that EV's will rule the world eventually, but we want them to rule ASAP

---
Model S - Standard 85 (2013) | Metallic Green | Pano Roof | Tech Package | Air Suspension | Jump Seats

Forum member SteveWest ordered a RHD Model S for delivery VAT-free to Tilburg. He will be responsible for transport to, import into, and registration in New Zealand.

Anybody making the trip to Evolocity at Ruapuna Raceway, Christchurch on November 30th?

It looks rather interesting in that there are a number of EV competitions as part of the event.

Evolocity

Carl Barlev said:

My game plan in short:
1. Bring Model S to NZ.
2. Offer all politicians a free test-drive (my time, my cost).
3. They will want one and will change the laws to facilitate getting one.

Click to expand...

Essentially my plan, also.

Carl Barlev said:

1. Do any of you know the options for getting a RHD MS to NZ?
2. What are Tesla's plans to open shop in NZ?
3. How does it work buying from Oz?

Click to expand...

1. The two options are sourcing from Australia, or from Tilburg. I am doing the latter because I require the jump seats (which are illegal in Australia). Pickup is scheduled for September 8th, in three weeks. From Tilburg I will drive the car to the UK, and ship it from there. I am using the R-Rak system with autoshippers.co.uk, which is substantially cheaper and more secure than any other option I could find.
2. Deferred indefinitely. I am willing to be pleasantly surprised though.
3. From my research I determined that it was possible to avoid the luxury tax, stamp duty, and Australian GST, through the use of a carnet. This would almost certainly require Tesla Australia's cooperation. I haven't run the numbers to see how the pricing compares with a Tilburg delivery.

By the way, although my order is for a UK car, the payment is being processed as an "other EU" car so the pricing is in Euros and a bit better than the UK. Of course I won't receive the £5,000 UK incentive, but I'm not sure I would have been able to even taking delivery in the UK.

Steve

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Johnwill said:

Anybody making the trip to Evolocity at Ruapuna Raceway, Christchurch on November 30th?

Click to expand...

I am planning to bring both my Roadster and P85+ Model S.

Steve

@Steve,

Wow, great to here somebody else has a similar plan! I'm thinking we should team up to deliver twice the punch (or more). Although I believe converting the politicians first is the fastest way forward, I was thinking I would probably also forge a parallel path to enlighten the public... drive around the country giving free presentations to anybody interested:
- Crash course in why electric is better (performance, engineering, energy efficiency, environment, safety... etc)
- Show examples from ratings, reviews and our respective experiences with Tesla vehicles
- Expose the flaws in the dud-arguments that are slowing EV progress
- Show that 10% of new car sales in Norway are EV!
- Explain difference between "incentives" and fair tax based on "user pays" (ie - Norway)

Besides having driven ca. 25,000 km in Tesla vehicles in 19 countries (mostly before there were any superchargers in Europe), I have also been quite heavily involved in Tesla's supercharger roll-out across Europe. One of the main reasons I bought my Model S was to let people experience it and thereby help to accelerate the revolution. I gave out over 100 test-drives in the first 3 months last year and lost count after that. I'm sure you have a lot of relevant experience also... will PM you to discuss how we can plan to take this further (if you're keen).

@John,

Thanks for the head's up, will have to see if/how I can fit this into my schedule

Unfortunately the timing isn't great as we're planning our move back to NZ for end of November... and now I probably won't have an EV in NZ until next year either... but if EVolocity is keen then I can probably make time to come down to give an (informal or otherwise) presentation on my experiences with Tesla as outlined above (before or after the racing events of course). Do you think this could be a suitable venue for such a talk, and if so, do you know anybody involved with organizing EVolocity?

Hi guys,
Haven't checked in for awhile. Just wondering what the word is on Australian/NZ deliveries? I got an email saying that they would not deliver to NZ until there is a service centre/store here! Anybody here know how far away that might be? I hear they will be delivering in Aus any day now? Looks like some of you are planning to buy overseas and ship here...does it work out cheaper that way or are you just trying to get your cars faster?
Hope you can fill me in! We are Aus reservation #35 but live in NZ.

Cheers,
Ted

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Hi again,
Just wanted to say I support any efforts to persuade NZ politicians to enact some tax breaks/incentives for EV purchases here! For NZ it is a no brainer as most of our power comes from Hydro (much the same as Norway)...in the south island where I live we are 98% hydro!
I contacted the Green Party about this ages ago but it seems they were backing public transport and hydrogen as the future. Hydrogen is a joke...can't believe the head of transport for Greens doesn't know this!
Anyway GST free for 100% EV's would be nice at least!

Let me know if I can help in any way here.

Cheers,
Ted

Update...

Tesla service centre, store and deliveries to NZ are still unknowns.

I spoke to a couple of sales reps last week regarding various alternatives:
1. Purchase car in Australia and then ship it to NZ.
2. Purchase car in HK and then ship it to NZ.
3. Purchase car in EU and ship to NZ.

Tesla recommends option 1 (easiest export to NZ), followed by option 2 (more complicated export to NZ).

I was advised against option 3, as cars from EU (or North America) are manufactured to slightly different standards and so warranty and service will not be available if I ship car to NZ. New Zealand is within Tesla's business area "Asia / Pacific", so cars from any AP country will still be under warranty/service in NZ.

One problem (for some people - myself included) - cars from AUS and HK do not give the option for jump seats...

Now thinking to bring my Model S in on a temporary LHD permit (max 12 months)...

Thanks Carl. Yes Peter I was told the same by Tesla Australia. From the email I received it seems they will not ship any cars to NZ until there is a service centre here (presumably in Auckland which won't do me much good anyway as I live way down in the South Island!) Are you hearing the same thing or are they going to send you your car since you have a signature reservation?

Must admit I am a bit annoyed seeing that we put down $5,000 AUD over two years ago with no mention from Tesla Australia that we would have to wait for a NZ presence. Obviously as a pretty small market I knew it would be a long time before NZ ever got a store/service centre. They also knew when I made my reservation with the Aussie store that I lived in NZ and was planning on shipping the car over from Aus, as we discussed shipping and potential taxes in detail.

I would be happy to sign something with Tesla Australia stating that I realize I will have no access to service or spare parts until a service centre is established in NZ.

I have had an EV for over 10 years with only new tires and washer fluid replaced on it! So pretty happy to take my chances on a Model S now instead of waiting another year (or more!) before they finally decide to set up shop here in NZ.

What do you think? Maybe if we team up on Tesla Australia we can get our cars sooner! Do you know anybody else with reservations here in NZ? Should try to get as many on board with this as possible. We have been waiting long enough!

How about ranger service? It might be a viable option if you all got together and wrote a combined letter to Jerome Guillen. If you all chipped in together to pay for a visit by a ranger, say on a regular basis to be negotiated, and saved up your issues, having notified them in advance so parts/ tools would be available to the ranger, that might well be a viable option, for both you and the company.