Elon Musk – you broke my heart. I am one of many Tesla owners who feel like the company has turned their back on Australian customers after the cancellation of the Model S Plaid Right Hand Drive (RHD) model.
Tesla sent me and other eager and patient Model S customers an email saying they were not going to manufacture RHD and that my order, which was placed in August 2021, will be cancelled.
And to thank me for my support of their “mission” they have offered me a $3,000 discount on the much cheaper Model 3 or Model Y.
That’s like being offered a chicken wing when the lobster has been taken off the menu.
Tesla has made no other formal statement outside the emails sent to owners which mention “changes to the vehicle program”.
This Tesla Model S Plaid edition went on sale in the US in July 2021 and have rolled to LHD drive countries around the world.
Australians, me included, have waited patiently for the release of the RHD model.
Between the release of the Model 3 and Model Y in the US before it is available in Australia was usually between 18 months and two years.
Going by that, the Model S Plaid should have arrived in July.
When the Model S Plaid went on sale on the Australian website it estimated a December 2022 delivery but as that deadline slipped the impatience grew.
Just a few weeks ago, Tesla stopped taking new orders for the Model S which I took to mean they wanted to manage the first wave of deliveries.
How wrong I was.
I have been a Tesla owner for 5 years since I took delivery of the Model S back in May 2018.
In fact, my five years lease is up at the end of May and I was hoping to sell my Model S, pay the vehicle out and use the remainder as a deposit on my upcoming Model S order.
Now I don’t know whether to keep the car for sale (you can see it on CarSales) or to just keep it.
One effect in my favour is that my Model S has just become even rarer and possibly even more valuable.
Now I’m not sure if I want to stick with Tesla.
Sure I can spec up a Model 3 performance with every possible feature to get closer to the Model S standard – and I’ve seriously thought about this.
But another side of me feels like turning away from Tesla.
The company has stood me up like a teenager the night before the prom.
The other option I’m looking at is the Mercedes EQE EV. I owned four Mercs before I bought my Model S five years ago – and they could be getting me back.
I’m pissed off that Tesla hasn’t really fought to keep me as a customer after my decision to buy the Model S five years ago, when no one was buying EVs, helped them become the gigantic company they are today.
Now they turn around and keep me hanging for close on two years and drop me like a hot potato.
There are a lot of RHD countries around the world and the question is how can Tesla not make money with a RHD drive model. Or do they not want to try?
Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, hell even Ferrari and Lamborghini make RHD models so why can’t Tesla offer a RHD Model S.
I know the company can’t make RHD Model 3s and Model Ys fast enough right now.
It absolutely baffles me why Tesla can’t supply a RHD Model S to Australia.
Maybe Elon Musk should spend less time writing obscure tweets and sharing conspiracy theories and spend more time working on his Tesla business.
