Tesla's Finally In India, But Its Wonder Car Won't Be A Tarzan Anytime Soon — Profit Exclusive

Tesla Inc., despite asking an additional Rs 6 lakh for the full-self driving feature on their Model Y in India, is not likely to enable it anytime soon.

The Elon Musk-led electric vehicle firm is still back-testing self-driving software for Indian roads, which present unique challenges compared to what the self-driving software is currently capable of, two people aware of the matter told NDTV Profit.

Telsa is also apprehensive of launching a full-fledged self-driving feature when the central government has no dedicated legislation to regulate autonomous vehicles. A 2019 amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act also saw no visible impact on self-driving vehicles.

The EV major is waiting for clarity from New Delhi before launching any features it might have to end up modifying, one of the persons mentioned above said.

The Tesla website says that the full self-driving "capability" can be added to a Model Y in India for a cost of Rs 6 lakh. "In future updates, your car will be able to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal driver intervention," the description reads.

As of now, the enabled self-driving features require constant driver supervision. Some features require turn signals and are limited in range. "The activation and use of these features are dependent on achieving reliability far in excess of human drivers as demonstrated by billions of miles of experience, as well as regulatory approval, which may take longer in some jurisdictions," Tesla says on its website.

The Model Y has been priced at Rs 61,07,190 on-road in Mumbai. The estimated delivery, as per the Tesla India website, will begin after September 2025.

The top speed is pencilled in at 201 kmph and the vehicle can hit 100 kmph in 5.9 secs. The range of the vehicle is 500 km.

It is available in white and black interiors for the Indian market. The car will be available in six colours — Stealth Grey, Pearl White, Diamond Black, Glacier Blue, Ultra Red and Quick Silver. The pricing of the vehicle, as per the norm, will differ from colour to colour.

The second person also said that while Tesla is aggressively going to push for its charging infrastructure in the country, it has not reached out to the government for any incentives for this.

Currently, under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid And Electric Vehicles in India Scheme, the government has incentivised electric two-, three-, and four-wheelers, along with e-buses and EV public charging stations.