What Will The Cost Be For A Tesla Model 3 In Australia?

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Originally published on RenewEconomy.
By Alex Shoolman

Officially, the Australian prices for the Tesla Model 3 haven’t been released yet. Let me be clear that what transpires below are my own estimates only!

That being said, I am an engineer, scientist and self-proclaimed spreadsheet guru so you can be assured that the below estimates are very likely going to be close.

I’ve also provided the reasoning behind how I came to the amounts, which will hopefully help justify them instead of me just pulling numbers out of my ass.

To start with, I’ll list all the vehicle variants and options pricing, and then I’ll explain how I came to each of these numbers.

• Model 3 Standard = $54,212 AUD
• Model 3 Long Range = $68,153 AUD
• Any Paint Option = $1,450 AUD
• 19″ Wheel Option = $2,200 AUD
• Premium Upgrades Package = $7,300 AUD
• Enhanced Autopilot = $7,300 AUD ($8,800 AUD if upgraded after delivery)
• Full Self-Driving Capability = $4,400 AUD ($5,900 AUD if upgraded after delivery)

So, if you for instance wanted to purchase a base Tesla Model 3 Standard with Red Paint, it would cost $54,212 + $1,450 = $55,662 as a base cost before including any Local Stamp Duty, Local Registration Costs, Local CTP, and potentially Luxury Car Tax if your base cost goes over $75,500.

Calculating the car costs

This is actually the most complicated part and also the most uncertain.

However, the best way to estimate the prices is to use Tesla’s own configuration prices for the USA/Aus Model S, and then scale them for the lower numbers.

An absolute base Model S in the USA costs $69,500 USD, while in Australia it costs $107,650. That’s not including any taxes or other costs, just what Tesla charges the various countries for that vehicle.

From this we can calculate a sort of “Tesla Currency Conversion Rate” which equals $69,500 / $107,650 = $0.6456.

This is the ratio that includes not only USD to AUD currency conversion, but also the costs Tesla has in terms of shipping the car, delivering it, their store costs, markup etc.. For comparison,the current AUD/USD currency conversion rate is $0.7986.

From this special Tesla currency conversion rate we can easily calculate each of the car costs from their USD prices given:

• Model 3 Standard = $35,000 USD Price / $0.6456 = $54,212 AUD
• Model 3 Long Range = $44,000 USD Price / $0.6456 = $68,153 AUD

Obviously the USD/AUD exchange rate between now and when the car is properly released in Australia will change (hopefully to make it cheaper! :-)) but this should give you a very good idea, as opposed to just doing a straight “$35,000 USD / $0.7986 exchange rate = $43,827 AUD” and thinking the car will be far cheaper than what it likely will be.

My figures are higher yes… but I’m pretty certain they will be more reflective of the real prices we’ll see come early 2019.

Calculating The Options

Options pricing is far easier to calculate, and I’m pretty much 100% certain of the prices above as that is what they are on the Tesla Model S configure page.

For example we can see below that the “Paint” options cost $1,000 USD according to the USA Model 3 configuration page.

If you look at the USA Model S configuration page and see how much Paint costs, it’s once again $1,000 USD. Therefore, it’s pretty safe to assume the Australian price will be the same as whatever is on the Australian Model S configuration page, which is $1,450 AUD.

Doing this for all the other options we get the above numbers. It’s also been confirmed (see image below) that Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability features will cost the same as they do on the Model S, meaning they’ll cost the same in Australia as what they do on the Australian Model S configuration page ($7,300 AUD and $4,400 AUD respectively)

All the above costs are the base costs and as said, they don’t include any Local Stamp Duty, Local Registration Costs, Local CTP, and potentially Luxury Car Tax if your base cost goes over $75,500. All these things can be easily calculated, however, they vary greatly from state to state, so I’m not going to do all the calculations for all the different states, prices etc.. Once you’ve decided on your base car and options, add up the estimated AUD cost and from there ensure you then add the following to get your final “Drive Away” cost:

1. Local Registration Costs (anywhere from $204 in NT to $773 in VIC)
2. Local CTP  (anywhere from $598 in NSW to $318 in TAS)
3. Local Stamp Duty (depends on the price of the base cost and which state you live in)
4. Luxury Car Tax (depends on the price of the base cost and only comes into effect after the base cost goes over $75,500)

So for an absolute base Model 3 Standard with no options added and bought in VIC, you’d be looking at $56,267 AUD drive away once you add all the above.

The Model 3 is a gorgeous car, and to give you an indication of some other luxury sedan cars and how much they sell for, a base model BMW 320i costs $68,607 drive away in VIC, while the Audi A4 would set you back $61,759 drive away.

A lot of people compare the Model 3 to the wrong cars, such as the GM Bolt or the Nissan Leaf, just because they’re all electric, but really it is a proper, premium luxury car… just way more advanced and cheaper than the competition apparently!

So what options will you be getting? I can’t decide between the red and the blue paint myself, but I’m sure the Standard range will do us just fine!

Alex Shoolman is a Photonic Scientist and Telecommunications Engineer who writes about cutting edge news in energy & transport, IT, nanotechnology and machine learning. 

Reprinted with permission.