(Editor's note: the article has been updated to include the location of the first Tesla charger in Singapore.)
Electric cars are enjoying increasing popularity worldwide and also in Singapore.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in his February 2020 budget speech, Singapore has a great vision of phasing out ICE vehicles by 2040.
Startups like BlueSG have increased in the city, while Hyundai is set to build an electric car manufacturing facility here.
With the electric vehicle revolution, Singaporeans began to wonder why Tesla's cars haven't appeared on our streets yet.
However, it seems that Singaporeans won't have to wait too long to see Elon Musk's electric cars in town.
Tesla is coming to Singapore soon
According to the Tesla website, it's "coming soon" to Singapore.
Screenshot from the Tesla website
A quick search on the Tesla website reveals that it is planning to enter the Singapore market.
However, the planned opening date has not yet been confirmed and the website also states that "the time and place may change".
Tesla currently has stores in over 30 countries around the world, including Germany, Great Britain, Taiwan, China and South Korea.
In November last year, Tesla hired a charging manager, indicating that Tesla is building its own EV charging infrastructure in Singapore.
The company plans to offer "comprehensive charging solutions" that include home charging, public charging, third party charging and charging.
According to Tesla, the goal of the Supercharger network is to give Tesla owners the freedom to travel at a fraction of the cost of petrol.
There are currently over 2,000 charging stations with more than 20,000 compressors around the world.
Screenshot from the Tesla website
Tesla has announced that its first Singapore charging station will be located at the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) on Sime Road. This is reflected in the latest update of the global charging network.
According to The Straits Times, Tesla did not approach SICC because of the charging stations mentioned for its reasons.
The US-based news website Electrek reported that Tesla is frequently putting a scheduled station on its charge card.
"Each station is dependent on Tesla finding a property to deploy the station, reach an agreement with the owner of the property, obtain proper permits and connect with the local electricity company," it said.
Existing Tesla owners can also use any of the 1,600 charging stations in Singapore.
SP Group EV charging stations in Singapore from November 2020 / Photo credit: SP Group
Although there are not yet any official Tesla showrooms in Singapore, many Singapore auto dealers have imported them into the nation for sale.
An imported Tesla Model 3 costs the owner around S $ 154,000 without the Certificate of Entitlement (COE).
Still hiring for 10 roles in Singapore
In July 2020, the electric vehicle and alternative energy company was actively recruiting in Singapore.
A search on the LinkedIn network page reveals that the company is still hiring 10 jobs in Singapore, with the last one posted three weeks ago.
The roles the company is hired for include Country Manager and Store Leader. This shows that the brand is preparing to enter the Singapore market.
Selected image source: EverCharge
