Tesla launches Model 3 in Korea

Tesla's Model 3 / Courtesy of Tesla

U.S. carmaker Tesla Motors Inc. on Tuesday launched the Model 3 in South Korea as it strives to absorb a growing appetite for all-electric vehicles (EVs) here.

The Model 3 sells at the starting price of 52 million won (US$43,000) without the central government's subsidy worth 9 million won. The prices go up depending on options such as color and tires, a Seoul-based Tesla spokeswoman said over the phone.

With subsidies from the central and provincial governments worth up to 20 million won, the new model is available at over 20 million won, a company spokeswoman said.

The Model 3 comes in three trims. Its highest performance version can reach zero to 100 kilometers per hour in just 3.4 seconds and has a maximum speed of 261 kph. It can travel up to 499 km on a single charge, the company said in a statement.

"We are receiving orders for the Model 3 through the company's webpage in Korea," she said.

Other Tesla models sold in Korea are the Model S and Model X, which sell at the starting prices of 111 million won and 119 million won, respectively.

Since it entered the Korean market in March 2017, Tesla has built 172 slow-charging stations and 22 superchargers across the country. It takes more than 10 hours to fully charge a Tesla vehicle at a slow charger, but it takes about an hour at a supercharger.

The company didn't provide information on how many Tesla models have been sold in Korea in the past two and a half years. (Yonhap)

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