Tesla faces fierce competition for electric cars in Israel

The car market in Israel is booming, especially the electric car sector. On the one hand, there is Tesla and a large number of Chinese competitors are competing for it. Tesla electric cars now arriving in Israel come from the Chinese company’s factories. According to the China Passenger Vehicle Association, 14,000 electric cars from the three Chinese Tesla factories were exported during April, of which 11%, or 1,500 cars, were to Israel. And Tesla is not alone. Its Chinese competitors in the electric vehicle market challenge it with full force in Israel and there are no less than 11 brands looking at regular exports, more than any other Western market. Globus has already stated that Geely will start 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 start exporting a crossover with a range of 400 km between shipping, at a price between 150,000 and 170,000 shekels. The cars will arrive in Israel according to full European Union standards. The showroom will be at the Toyota House on Yigal Alon Street in Tel Aviv where the showrooms of the Chinese company GAC (which was also imported by Union Motors) are also set to join the Israeli car importer Colmobil to join the electric car battle, and the first shipment of Hyundai Ionic 5 electric vehicles landed yesterday. In Israel to check the standards before marketing, scheduled to begin in July. The Ionic 5 is larger than the Tesla 3 and has a range of 480 km between charges. Ionic 5 prices in Europe are similar to those of Tesla 3 and therefore prices in Israel are expected to start from around 190 to 200,000 shekels. According to the registration data in Israel, there are only 363 Tesla cars on the roads of Israel. Another 1,500 Tesla electric cars from China were discharged from ships last month, but deliveries to their owners were delayed due to the security escalation, and only 200-300 cars could be delivered by the end of May. In June, a shipment of Tesla cars is expected to arrive in Israel from the United States, which will include some Tesla Y models for testing and evaluation, but a Tesla spokesperson declined to confirm this. Tesla this week inaugurated its second recharging station at the Azrieli Center at the southern entrance to Haifa. The terminal has six charging points and can add a 120-kilometer range to Tesla 3 in five minutes. More charging stations will open in the coming months. Posted by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on May 27, 2021 © Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021