I would love to own a nice sports car in Thailand but I cannot accept paying 6 million baht for a 2 million baht Boxster. From talking with importers, tax rates are based on engine displacement with some rebates for hybrids.

My brother in law bought a Tesla and absolutely loves it. I think it would work very well around Pattaya and Bangkok because of the relatively short distances and traffic jams where you won't waste money idling. He says the acceleration is awesome, the car is quiet and lots of room inside. I would seriously consider this car and have a truck for longer trips and carrying stuff.

How would someone calculate the duty on an electric car?

According to this thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/490144-super-fast-car-the-tesla-roadster-in-bangkok/ the roadster is 8.5 MB all in compared with 2.6 MB in the US

I'd like one too, but it cost more than my house

First question: how do you expect an electric car not to waste money idling, when aircon is an absolute requirement here?

Second, it is already imported here... Price tag: 8.5 million THB.

http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html#nabble-td3760418

First question: how do you expect an electric car not to waste money idling, when aircon is an absolute requirement here?

Second, it is already imported here... Price tag: 8.5 million THB.

http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html#nabble-td3760418

Okay, forget that stupid idea. Think I'll just continue waiting for my order on the Ford Ranger Wildtrak placed in March.

If importing yourself, and can manage to get it taxed by the book only, taxes will be: 80% import duty + 11.1% excise & interior tax + 7% VAT (all compounding, and based on CIF price).

Good question though. Shame about the answer.

Wierd that Model discussed in the link is the Roadster, that Tesla no longer makes.

The new Model S is, in the US, significantly less expensive. Great car too.

Here's a gimicky Tesla demo. Kinda cool too. http://vimeo.com/68832891

Well in theory the duty should be a lot less because it is an Eco car. For the same reason the Cayenne hybrid is way cheaper than the std Cayenne.

Well in theory the duty should be a lot less because it is an Eco car. For the same reason the Cayenne hybrid is way cheaper than the std Cayenne.

Import duties for new cars are always 80%, unless they are assembled in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines or Australia.

Hybrids and electric vehicles do get a special 10% excise tax rate though, so the total taxes on something like this is 80% + 11.1% + 7%

So to be clear, that's not 80+11.1+7, it is price * 1.8* 1.111 * 1.07 = 113% duty and that's calculated also on the shipping cost and the estimated value of the car, not the purchase price.

Assuming $50k USD for the car and $10k to ship it, that's going to be a 4m baht car at least.

Also, it is going to sound stupid, if you pay that much, you at least want to annoy your neighbours.

I am sure YUMA (IIRC the current importer) would not be selling them for 8m if they were able to be imported for 4m.

So to be clear, that's not 80+11.1+7, it is price * 1.8* 1.111 * 1.07 = 113% duty and that's calculated also on the shipping cost and the estimated value of the car, not the purchase price.

Assuming $50k USD for the car and $10k to ship it, that's going to be a 4m baht car at least.

Also, it is going to sound stupid, if you pay that much, you at least want to annoy your neighbours.

I am sure YUMA (IIRC the current importer) would not be selling them for 8m if they were able to be imported for 4m.

Your math is correct

Why would you assume an official importer wouldn't mark up 100%? The money to run their business has to come from somewhere

100% markup is actually very low compared to mainstream brands - but there's a lot of expenses that quickly eat into that.

So to be clear, that's not 80+11.1+7, it is price * 1.8* 1.111 * 1.07 = 113% duty and that's calculated also on the shipping cost and the estimated value of the car, not the purchase price.

Assuming $50k USD for the car and $10k to ship it, that's going to be a 4m baht car at least.

Also, it is going to sound stupid, if you pay that much, you at least want to annoy your neighbours.

I am sure YUMA (IIRC the current importer) would not be selling them for 8m if they were able to be imported for 4m.

Your math is correct

Why would you assume an official importer wouldn't mark up 100%? The money to run their business has to come from somewhere

100% markup is actually very low compared to mainstream brands - but there's a lot of expenses that quickly eat into that.

Oh, I mean if they could sell it profitably (at whatever margin they want) for 4m, they would; as the cost price is 4m, the price must therefore be something more than 4m.

But yes, for a boutique brand a price margin of 100% would seem to likely be something not unreasonable, now that I think about the cost of carrying parts etc to service it.

It would be a great car IF the drivers side wasn't on the wrong side of the car. Might be legal but it's an accident waiting to happen and a real pain to drive ..... you really want a sports car in a place with a lot of traffic when you can't see well enough to pass people ?

It would be a great car IF the drivers side wasn't on the wrong side of the car. Might be legal but it's an accident waiting to happen and a real pain to drive ..... you really want a sports car in a place with a lot of traffic when you can't see well enough to pass people ?

Aren't they right hand drive as based on a British built Elise ?

It would be a great car IF the drivers side wasn't on the wrong side of the car. Might be legal but it's an accident waiting to happen and a real pain to drive ..... you really want a sports car in a place with a lot of traffic when you can't see well enough to pass people ?

Aren't they right hand drive as based on a British built Elise ?

Why would a small American car company make cars with the drivers side on the wrong side making them illegal to drive in the US ? ...... of course they are not

Oops my bad in 2010 they started making them on the right ......oops sorry

One of the more common misconceptions about the Tesla Roadster is that it is an electrified Lotus Elise. This has been an interesting problem to deal with because the Tesla is vastly different from an Elise and it is important that people are aware of this. In fact, we recently counted how many parts the two cars shared and the total number was under 7% by parts count. If you were to analyze it by parts value, the number would be even smaller.

So you could say that the Tesla is similar to a Lotus Elise, except it has a totally different drivetrain , body panels, aluminum tub, rear sub-frame, brakes, ABS system, HVAC and rear suspension. The Tesla also neglects to carry over the gas tank, emissions equipment and exhaust.

If you were to try to convert an Elise to a Tesla and started throwing away parts that aren’t carried over what you would basically be left with a windshield, dashboard, front wishbones and a removable soft top.

It would be a great car IF the drivers side wasn't on the wrong side of the car. Might be legal but it's an accident waiting to happen and a real pain to drive ..... you really want a sports car in a place with a lot of traffic when you can't see well enough to pass people ?

Aren't they right hand drive as based on a British built Elise ?

Why would a small American car company make cars with the drivers side on the wrong side making them illegal to drive in the US ? ...... of course they are not

Don't you mean the 'right' side. It's all in the name.

they make them on both since 2010

Let's hope they start manufacturing here soon and running out charging stations.

Plenty of sun here for solar recharging! Best car ever.

When they start making the smaller model they will sweep the board, goodbye gasoline ICE and good riddance.

Let's hope they start manufacturing here soon and running out charging stations.

Plenty of sun here for solar recharging! Best car ever.

When they start making the smaller model they will sweep the board, goodbye gasoline ICE and good riddance.

..... ....I 'Like' it...

Why not just get a top-spec Prius? Not a sports car but you get that eco-car stuff and the rooftop solar panel and air con cooling is pretty cool.

Why not just get a top-spec Prius? Not a sports car but you get that eco-car stuff and the rooftop solar panel and air con cooling is pretty cool.

You are missing a point(Tesla)...it's all Electric !!!

Why not just get a top-spec Prius? Not a sports car but you get that eco-car stuff and the rooftop solar panel and air con cooling is pretty cool.

You are missing a point(Tesla)...it's all Electric !!!

The 6.5M dif in price buys allot of gas

Charging Stations in Thailand, WHY..?. There are Live Electric Cables dangling down all over the place.Help Yourself for free..

Just be careful which one you choose.....

Just be careful which one you choose.....

Do you mean the power cable or the Tesla?

Maybe Thailand should introduce tax cuts on electric car, like Norway does:

http://www.ibtimes.com/tesla-owners-norway-get-134000-tax-break-which-more-base-price-model-s-1507740

The Tesla S has been one of the best selling cars in Norway last year.