Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Tesla dealership in Sydney, Australia

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Hello all,

I have been following the Tesla Roadster for some time and being Australian and therefore a RHD drive country was excited to read when Tesla opened a dealership in London, UK.

To further my excitement was particularly interested to read that Tesla Motors was opening a dealership in Sydney, Australia.

However, I have been unable to find out anymore news or read anywhere else (including the official website) to confirm the story or any estimation of an opening date.

Does anyone have any more information on an opening date and the proposed location in Sydney?



The blog I follow and found the story is as follows:-

SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2010

Tesla Roadster heading for Australia

Australians have already begun placing orders for the first mass-produced electric car due to hit our shores, the Tesla Roadster.

It's due to arrive in August and the American company has revealed a number of locals have already placed orders for the Lotus Elise-based sports car.

Along with unique styling, the Roadster replaces the Lotus petrol engine with an electric motor and battery pack, enough to propel the car to more than 200km/h and travel in excess of 350 kilometres on a single charge.

Tesla has also confirmed it will set up its local base in Sydney later this year. A stand-alone store will be established, in keeping with the company's plans overseas.

Australian Rudi Tuisk will head up the local operation, having worked for the start-up car company in Europe.

"We're taking pre-orders for Australia," Tuisk said. "We're actually selling the vehicle — we're taking orders right now."

Tuisk won't reveal how many orders had been received but has confirmed extra cars will arrive with the first shipment to cater for further demand.

Tesla has confirmed that Australian certification of the Roadster is well advanced and should be signed off well ahead of launch. Right-hand drive versions of the revolutionary electric car are already on sale in Britain.

Tesla hasn't revealed any details on pricing for the Roadster in Australia. In the US, the Roadster sells for about $US100,000 ($120,350), roughly double the cost of a Lotus Elise.

In the US, the company has recently announced plans for a lease arrangement, but there has been no word from Tesla if such a system will be offered locally.

http://electric-vehicles-cars-bikes.blogspot.com/2010/05/tesla-roadster-heading-for-australia.html

Cheers.
 
I refined my Google search to simply Tesla Motors Sydney and found this story which appears to confirm the August 2010 opening date but no store location identified.


Story as follows:

Tesla set for August EV debut Down Under


Red leader: Tesla says it will begin deliveries of its Tesla Roadster in August from a new Sydney store.
What is green?
US electric vehicle leader Tesla to break new ground with 201km/h Roadster here

25 May 2010
By PHILIP LORD
AMERICA’S Tesla Motors is set to become the first car-maker to hit the Australian market with a mass-manufactured zero-emissions vehicle when it begins delivery of its all-electric Roadster to customers from a new Sydney store in August.

Speaking exclusively to GoAuto, Tesla Motors Australia’s recently appointed general manager Rudi Tuisk said the company was already taking orders from Australian customers for its 200km/h-plus Lotus Elise-based plug-in sportscar, which has been re-engineered into right-hand drive and altered to accept this country’s 240-volt electricity.

Pricing for the Tesla Roadster and its higher-performance stalemate, the Roadster Sport, will be announced within a month, but expect a price tag above $200,000.

The confirmation of the Australian launch of one of the most advanced EVs in the world comes just days after the Silicon Valley-based company sealed a joint-venture deal with Japanese giant Toyota Motor Corporation to co-operate on future EVs to be built at a former Toyota-General Motors plant near San Francisco.

The factory is expected to begin production next year, producing Tesla’s all-new sedan, the Model S, which has also been slated for Australian release at a date to be determined.

The Tesla Roadster – currently undergoing Australian Design Rule certification – is expected to beat the Mitsubishi i-MiEV to Australia by several months, becoming the first factory-backed EV on sale here.

Like the American version, Australia’s first Tesla uses a bank of lithium-ion batteries and a 375-volt electric motor to generate 215kW of power from 5000-6000rpm (redline 14,000rpm) and 370Nm of torque from 0-5400rpm. The Sport version offers extra torque – 400Nm – from 0-5100rpm.

Left: Tesla Roadster. Below: Model S.

The lightweight 1238kg two-seater rear-drive sportscar can accelerate to 60mph (97km/h) in a claimed 3.9 seconds (Sport: 3.7 seconds), on its way to an electronically limited top speed of 125mph (201km/h), matching some of the world’s finest supercars for acceleration, if not top speed.

Tesla claims the driving range is 236 miles (380km) and that a full recharge takes about 3.5 hours using a 240-volt outlet. The expected battery life is seven years or 100,000 miles (160,930km).

Mr Tuisk, an Australian technician seconded from Tesla’s European arm to set up the company’s Australian satellite, said cars should be delivered three months after order.

“We’re taking pre-orders for Australia. We’re actually selling the vehicle – we’re taking orders right now,” he said.

While Mr Tuisk would not divulge the size of the order bank, he said the first shipment of Australian cars would include stock cars as well as ordered vehicles.

He said the Roadster, which entered RHD production for the UK in January, had already cleared the main hurdles of official Australian regulatory certification.

“We’re just in the process, in the final weeks of certification, but we’re already clear technically,” he said.

Mr Tuisk said Tesla was “actively recruiting” staff for its Sydney-based office, but the store location had not yet been finalised.

“We’re looking at Sydney,” he said. “We’ll be using our own dealership; Tesla does that worldwide, so we’ll be sticking to the same method here in Australia, which is a Tesla-owned store.”

Tesla Australia’s launch variants, the base Roadster and Roadster Sport, will arrive with a full array of features as available in the US market.

“We’ll have the full options packages that are available in the US, so we’re bringing in a fully optional vehicle,” he said.

Mr Tuisk said the cars would have Tesla’s standard power connectors – low, medium and high – offering charging choices ranging from overnight on the low-charge system to four hours on high charge.

“Australia is a unique situation in that we have 240 volts and we have single phase up to 100 amps, so therefore you can run a home connector (high-powered connector) on a dedicated line into your house, and therefore you’ll end up with a four-hour charge time,” he said.

Servicing for the Roadster will be done from the Sydney store – a process that already works well for Tesla in Europe, where the company has sold about 200 Roadsters.

“Tesla is in the unique situation where we can upload a lot of the data from the vehicle, which gives us a very clear indication of what the issues are with the vehicle – or we actually go to the customer,” he said.

“Our experience in Europe is that we’re able to adequately cover Europe with quite a small number of service engineers. So basically once we have the data we’re relatively accurate with what’s wrong with the vehicle.

“If not, we’ll fly someone in, or if the vehicle presented itself as needing to attend the base we would return it to base.

“It’s like a travelling service – we offer a home service on the vehicle. If that doesn’t work, we return it to base.

“Last year in Europe there were very few vehicles we misdiagnosed. Very few had to come back to base.”

Mr Tuisk said Tesla’s main goal is to establish the brand in Australia with the two Roadster variants, which would be offered with a three-year warranty.

“We want to move electric vehicles forward in Australia and get Australia on the program and get people to experience electric vehicle technology,” he said.

Mr Tuisk said Tesla has not endorsed any particular infrastructure supplier in Australia, in line with the company’s worldwide policy.

“Any move forward with electric technology is a great step for the environment and also for urban living,” he said.

“Tesla espouses an open-source charging opportunity for people and it’s important that everyone’s able to access the charging infrastructure, whether it be in their house or whether it be a charge port on the street – so long as they can get access, that’s fine.”

In recent weeks, Tesla has introduced a leasing option for the Roadster that allows US customers to take immediate delivery of the vehicle with a three-year/30,000-mile contract based on monthly payments.

Mr Tuisk said it was too soon to discuss such leasing options for the Australian market.

The Roadster does not require the same sort of servicing as conventional cars, such as oil changes or exhaust system work, and does not have spark plugs, pistons, hoses, belts or clutches to replace.

Tesla recommends a standard service and diagnostic inspection once a year – which could be done at the customer’s home or office.

Mr Tuisk said the Tesla Roadster was unique.

“It has a unique driveline and it has a unique brand, so I don’t think there is anything that will be direct competition to our vehicle,” he said.

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/CBCCAD2E792B825FCA25772E0013CBC4
 
Web searches on Sydney Tesla turn up Tesla Automotive Pty Ltd, but I suspect that is a different 'Tesla'...

Thanks, your suspicions are correct it is a different Tesla.

FYI - this is what I found.

I did a free company search on the company and found it was formed on 17 July 2003 see link here:

http://www.search.asic.gov.au/cgi-bin/gns030c?acn=105_576_761&juris=9&hdtext=ACN&srchsrc=1

(remember we have a different date format as day/month/year :smile:)

Further, the name has been reserved since 31 May 1994 link here: http://www.search.asic.gov.au/cgi-bin/gns030c?state_number=Q9823910&juris=2&hdtext=NSW&srchsrc=1

To further squash the suspicion checked the street address and as suspected it just an industrial site and located in the outer western suburbs of Sydney not the place you would put the first dealership - zoom out on link to see what I mean. Link here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...=AqHMPBw1-zjcrqhgAfYJjA&cbp=12,280.94,,0,0.87

Case closed on that one.
 
Telsa Motors Australia Pty Ltd

I did however use my Accountant skills and know how and uncovered the truth :biggrin:, drum roll.... the Australian subsidiary is:

Telsa Motors Australia Pty Ltd

The evidence can be found here: http://www.search.asic.gov.au/cgi-bin/gns030c?acn=142_889_816&juris=9&hdtext=ACN&srchsrc=1

Free company search extract is as follows:-

Name TESLA MOTORS AUSTRALIA, PTY LTD
ACN
142 889 816
ABN
68 142 889 816
Type Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Registration Date 31/03/2010
Next Review Date 31/03/2011
Status Registered
Locality of Registered Office Kogarah NSW 2217
Jurisdiction Australian Securities & Investments Commission

These are the documents that ASIC has most recently received from or in relation to this organisation. Page numbers are shown if processing is complete and the document is available for purchase.
Date Number Pages Description
14/07/2010 026579937 Not Imaged 384 Notification of Resol. By Directors of a Small Pty Company
22/06/2010 1E6602621 2 484B Change to Company Details Change of Registered Address
31/03/2010 1E6375979 3 201C Application For Registration as a Proprietary Company


Being an accountant I do setup a lot of Australian companies so I can interpret the search that gives it away as being the subsidiary of US parent company as follows in order of relevance:

1/ the name Tesla Motors Australia - in short gives it away.

2/ the company was only formed recently 31 March 2010 - which is in line with the press releases in May 2010 - ie. they would first establish the company before announcing the move to setup a dealership as someone could otherwise jump in and reserve the name.

3/ They have lodged a form 384 - the title of the form is "Resolution by directors of a small proprietary company controlled by a foreign company
which is not part of a large group"

I have lodged these forms myself they are only required where an Australian companies shares have a majority (ie. more than 50%) owed by a foreign company - this form is therefore not required for companies owed by another Australian person or corporation and this is as such a give away to say it is a the real deal a subsidiary of the US parent company or related company.

This form 384 is lodged to exempt the Australian company from having to lodge audited financial accounts with our corporate regulator the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC). They still will of course be required to prepare accounts and lodge a corporate Australian tax return but won't require it to be audited which is generally a costly exercise.

4/ The companies registered office is Kogarah NSW 2217 - this is located in a suburb south of Sydney see link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou....919717,151.145782&spn=0.157263,0.362206&z=12

This in itself is not a give away as a companies registered office does not need to be located at the physical address of the company it can be another address and is commonly the accountants or solicitors address (we have plenty of them at our shelves at work :smile:) so it is just an indicator as practically most business seek an accountant/solicitor close to there business but of course this is not always the case.

5/ Business address - not 100% sure on this one but business address appears to be 'AURORA PLACE' LEVEL 19, SYDNEY NSW 2000 - as found from front page of a Dun & Bradstreet (an Australian company extract service) see link: http://www.dnb.com.au/express/order/asic_order.asp?id=1&pageFrom=ASIC&ACN=142889816


This address is clearly located in the heart of Sydney but the address is Level 19 not ground which is obviously where the dealership would need to be located building - further cost of refit etc would make it not viable either - so if this is the business address it is simply be the Australian head office not the dealership location, link is here: http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&...Wdh7uejC7E4G4oKMM7eKw&cbp=12,310.31,,0,-10.18

Again this is just an indicator.


Further, to my knowledge of Sydney I am sure there are no car dealerships located in the city itself only on outskirts or outer suburbs so will be interesting to find out the proposed location.


I could (which I might) pay for a full company search to get all ALL the truth as to the company directors, registered office and business address and whom all the shareholders but as you can see (from the above Dun & Bradstreet link) this will cost $AU 37.50.


Here is another link to another Australian public register where the company details are located http://www.abr.business.gov.au/(zz5...px?SearchText=68+142+889+816&StartSearch=True

Cheers :wink:
 
5/ Business address - not 100% sure on this one but business address appears to be 'AURORA PLACE' LEVEL 19, SYDNEY NSW 2000 :

Aurora Place is 155 Macquarie Street and the Legal firm Minter Ellison is on level 19.
So all this tells you is that Minters are doing the legals for Tesla Australia and until a permanent location is determined that all correspondence will be to Minters.
 
Last edited:
Considering the car is made in UK, assembled in California, USA, and then shipped to Australia... that will offset any CO2 savings from driving the car.

You're going to see about the same CO2 shipping costs for any other car you buy; it is a global industry and parts come from all over the world. Considering that most cars are built from hugely CO2 intensive steel...
 
Does anyone know if Sydney really has a dealership/Gallery open for the public? I can see it on the map in the Tesla website but when I try to find the address or google it there is no information.

I wouldn't mind popping in to have a look if its there.

Also anyone know if it has a model S on display?
 
Does anyone know if Sydney really has a dealership/Gallery open for the public? I can see it on the map in the Tesla website but when I try to find the address or google it there is no information.

I wouldn't mind popping in to have a look if its there.

Also anyone know if it has a model S on display?

I'm not aware of the Showroom/Gallery being open currently. As I understand it, they do have a service centre still (for the Roadster owners), but I believe they won't be re-opening the Showroom until closer to the Model S being released here (which seems like it's taking ages!).

I'll probably see you there when it re-opens. :)