Russia, a country of 144 million people, has just 300 registered electric vehicles, not including Teslas since none are officially sold in the country, compared with about 1,200 in neighboring Estonia, which has a population of 1.3 million.
Pentagon Ties
Tesla Motors Inc. had global revenue of $1.1 billion in the first quarter, the same amount Russians spent on luxury cars in January through May, according to market researcher Avtostat. The Palo Alto, California-based company said last week it delivered 11,507 Model S sedans in the second quarter. It aims to deliver 55,000 vehicles globally this year.
Vratskiy said he and other members of the Tesla fan club have written to the company several times to urge it to expand into Russia, but the answer is always the same -- the country just isn’t a priority.
Tesla said it doesn’t sell its vehicles in Russia, so it doesn’t “provide warranty, charging solutions, service, or assistance with the necessary steps to legally import” its cars. It had no comment about when it might enter the market.
With relations between the U.S. and Russia at their worst in a generation due to Putin’s support for the rebellion in Ukraine, that position seems unlikely to change anytime soon.
For Musk, a 44-year-old native of South Africa, entering the Russian market is complicated by another of his businesses: closely held SpaceX. Formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., it won U.S. Air Force certification in May to conduct military missions while a joint venture of rivals Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. is being limited because of political pressure over its use of Russian rockets.
With no entry in site, Tesla fans in Russia like Vratskiy will have to continue paying a premium to the private traders who are stepping in to meet demand. Two dozen Model S cars are currently being advertised on Avto.ru, the country’s largest online marketplace for vehicles, for as much as 11 million rubles ($195,000) each.
But Tesla buyers beware of the Moscow fender bender: The nearest service center is in Finland, about 900 kilometers (550 miles) away.