Another large new consignment of Tesla electric cars is set to dock at Ashdod Port in the next few days. This consignment of 1,170 cars was manufactured in Tesla's US plant and will arrive on the RCC Africa vehicle carrier from Brussels, on to which the vehicles were reloaded after sailing from the US. Only one month ago, the same vessel transported 1,500 Tesla 3 cars to Israel, which were manufactured in China.
Most of the cars in the latest consignment are also Tesla 3 vehicles, although sources in the Israeli vehicle market say that some Tesla Ys, the company's crossover electric model, will be on board the Africa so that they can undergo standards testing in Israel, so that marketing can begin in early 2022.
This latest consignment will bring the number of Tesla cars that have landed in Israel to about 2,900 - all of them ordered in advance. According to figures obtained by "Globes," 1,606 electric cars have actually been delivered to customers in Israel since the start of 2021 with the MG-ZS being the leading electric vehicle (EV) model with a 29.3% market share, followed by the Tesla 3 with a 25% market share of deliveries.
These figures include only 402 deliveries in Israel of Tesla cars in 2021 due to the delay in deliveries of the 1,500 Tesla cars which arrived in April due to the fighting in the south. In May (as of today) only 108 Tesla cars have been delivered to customers. When all the deliveries are completed during June, Tesla is expected to have an 80% market shares of Israel's EV market. If electric cars continue arriving in Israel at the current rate, then EVs are expected to comprise over 3% of Israel's overall new car sales market in 2021, up from 1% in 2020.
Tesla to face fierce EV rivalry in Israel
1,500 Tesla electric cars reached Israel in April from the company's Chinese plant as rivals gear up to the challenge.
Israel's car market is booming and especially the electric vehicles segment. On the one hand there is Tesla and contesting them are a large number of Chinese rivals.
The Tesla electric vehicles now arriving in Israel come from the company's Chinese plants. According to the China passenger Car Association, 14,000 electric cars were exported from Tesla's three Chinese plants during April, of which 11%, or 1,500 were to Israel.
And Tesla is not alone. Its Chinese rivals in the electric vehicle market are challenging it with full force in Israel and there are at least 11 brands looking at regular exports, more than in any other western market.
"Globes" has already reported that Geely will begin marketing electric cars to Israel later this year and a source close to the matter says that the company is already preparing to set up a showroom in Tel Aviv. Union Motors will begin exports of a crossover with a 400 kilometer range between charging at a price of between NIS 150-170,000.
The cars will reach Israel complying with full EU standards. The showroom will be in Beit Toyota in Yigal Alon Street in Tel Aviv where Chinese company GAC (also imported by Union Motors) has its showrooms.
Israeli car importer Colmobil is also planning to join the electric vehicle fray and yesterday the first consignment of Hyundai Ionic 5 electric cars landed in Israel for inspection for standards ahead of marketing scheduled to start in July. The Ionic 5 is larger than the Tesla 3 and has a range of up to 480 kilometers between charges. Prices for the Ionic 5 in Europe are similar to those of the Tesla 3 and so prices in Israel are expected to start at about NIS 190-200,000.
According to registration data in Israel, only 363 Tesla cars are on Israel's roads. Another 1,500 Tesla electric cars from China were unloaded from ships last month but delivery to their owners was delayed by the security flare-up and only 200-300 of the cars would have been delivered by the end of May.
In June a consignment of Tesla cars is expected to reach Israel from the US, which will include some of the Tesla Y models for trials and evaluation but the Tesla spokesperson declined to confirm this.
Tesla this week opened its second recharging station in the Azrieli mall at the southern entrance to Haifa. The station has six charging points and can add a 120 kilometer range to the Tesla 3 within five minutes. More charging stations will open in the coming months.
