Moving from US to France - Import US version or (painfully) wait for EU

[Meursault]

6366 reservation holder moving to France (bonjour!) for business in January from the US (au revoir!) for two years. Based on all the information available right now looks like January-March delivery. If anything, as a mostly 'forum voyeur', this site has proven that the knowledge of the community is quite impressive on all levels and certainly people have some strong opinions on obscure topics.

The question I pose is whether it makes sense to either (i) call up Tesla and move myself into the EU reservation group (knowing it will be a long time before I actually see my actual car) or (ii) import the US version to France. I just started looking into the whole process of importing and my company will take care of the cost to physically move the car across the Atlantic, but the unknowns are import taxes, and conversion to meet requirements of EU laws. Any insight on this? Also will I possibly be missing out on some functionality that will be key to use the car in the EU (strangely remember reading something about 3 phase or stage charging or something that is the standard in the EU - anyway to overcome this)? I do plan to come back to the US after the two year stint in France, and so to the extent this factors into a suggestion certainly let me know.

Anyway, like the majority of reservation holders on this forum, I am incredibly excited to receive delivery of my Model S to experience it in reality versus read/contemplate it through a virtual discussion, however, I also do not want to make a catastrophic mistake by allowing my exuberance overshadow cold logic. Thoughts, comments, suggestions? THANKS.

 

[widodh]

Since you are moving to the EU temporarely I'd not advise to go for the EU model since it will have 3-phase charging, which is kind of useles in the US.

I don't know how much you are going to drive in one dag while in France, but with 1-phase 32A you should be capable of managing for two years, but you'll be charging rather slowly.

When you import a EU car into the US you won't be able to charge with 40 or 50A at home, which will be kind of annoying I think.

While looking at the Model S it seemed to me that they designed the car to EU spec with all the reflectors and turn indicators on the side, so importing it should be possible.

I'd go for importing the US model to the EU.

 

[Jin Kazama]

If you bring your car temporarly in France, you don't have to pay taxes or anything else - but temporarly means less than 6 month...

If you want to import it definitly, you'll have to pay 19.6% VAT and 10% import fee (vehicule not made in the EU) - that's a 30% increase in price!

If I were you, I'd import it temporarly for 2 years if you see what I mean...

 

[dsm363]

That's tough. Have you thought of leasing one of the other EVs available over there for 2 years and getting a Model S in 2 years? You'd get all of the upgrades and improvements over that time period as well.

 

[Eberhard]

Since you are moving to the EU temporarely I'd not advise to go for the EU model since it will have 3-phase charging, which is kind of useles in the US.

I don't know how much you are going to drive in one dag while in France, but with 1-phase 32A you should be capable of managing for two years, but you'll be charging rather slowly.

When you import a EU car into the US you won't be able to charge with 40 or 50A at home, which will be kind of annoying I think.

While looking at the Model S it seemed to me that they designed the car to EU spec with all the reflectors and turn indicators on the side, so importing it should be possible.

I'd go for importing the US model to the EU.

The 3-phase charger comes with a triple charger like the twin charger in the US. Being back in the states you can get it wired back to mono phase use.
But the ability to charge 3-phase in europe is a must as long as the supercharger network is non existence.

 

[Meursault]

Yes, definately only temporary - 2 years at most (or 4 - six month temporary periods :smile. Leasing an EV while in France is a possibility, but I really can't stand the idea of waiting so long for the Model S (even though, as you pointed out, I would recieve the benefits of the upgrades). Although the charging sounds like it could be frustrating, if I want to have the Model S I might need to just accept it. My drives will no be very long (less than 50 miles a day normally), and so slow charge is not a huge factor...however could be annoying for longer road trips/exploring.... is there a way to convert three phase to one phase, or some type of method of increasing the amps available in the EU charging scenerio?

 

[brian45011]

Check with Athlon Car Lease to see when they will have the Model S available.

 

[ManuVince]

Your company pays for transportation. I say go for the import. The import duties and VAT will be added to the price by Tesla anyway, plus logistic expense. Which means there will be almost no financial difference for you between the 2 solutions. So better go for a long term car that will work best in the US.

Even on a standard 16A 200 Volts plug, toping up 50 miles of range during the night should be easily achievable.

For long trips. I'm personally contemplating car rental for long trips, until the infrastructure catches on. And anyway the only convenient fast charging for a car with a battery that large is DC fast charging (Tesla super charger or ChaDeMo adaptation or ...), so again 3 phase is useless.

 

[pguerra]

6366 reservation holder moving to France (bonjour!) for business in January from the US (au revoir!) for two years. Based on all the information available right now looks like January-March delivery. If anything, as a mostly 'forum voyeur', this site has proven that the knowledge of the community is quite impressive on all levels and certainly people have some strong opinions on obscure topics.

The question I pose is whether it makes sense to either (i) call up Tesla and move myself into the EU reservation group (knowing it will be a long time before I actually see my actual car) or (ii) import the US version to France. I just started looking into the whole process of importing and my company will take care of the cost to physically move the car across the Atlantic, but the unknowns are import taxes, and conversion to meet requirements of EU laws. Any insight on this? Also will I possibly be missing out on some functionality that will be key to use the car in the EU (strangely remember reading something about 3 phase or stage charging or something that is the standard in the EU - anyway to overcome this)? I do plan to come back to the US after the two year stint in France, and so to the extent this factors into a suggestion certainly let me know.

Anyway, like the majority of reservation holders on this forum, I am incredibly excited to receive delivery of my Model S to experience it in reality versus read/contemplate it through a virtual discussion, however, I also do not want to make a catastrophic mistake by allowing my exuberance overshadow cold logic. Thoughts, comments, suggestions? THANKS.

Our family has the possibility of moving to Spain in 2 yrs or so for an unknown amount of time. I am highly interested in this topic as well. A quote I received for importing my Prius into Spain was about $3k for ocean freight and retrofitting of required lights etc from Houston to Vigo. Did not include taxes and fees.

If anyone has any insight into this process, please let us know. I'm interested in knowing what is necessary regarding lights and street legal use so it could be used for both USA and EU if possible.

 

[chmod a+wrx]

This is from the Limited New Vehicle Warranty:

The following will also void this New Vehicle Limited Warranty:
• Vehicles that have been transported or driven outside the Tesla North America Warranty Region;

Maybe you should wait for the European models to come out......???

 

[Trnsl8r]

...

While looking at the Model S it seemed to me that they designed the car to EU spec with all the reflectors and turn indicators on the side, so importing it should be possible.

I'd go for importing the US model to the EU.

Unfortunately I think you're mistaken here. We have seen for a fact that the rear turn signals in the US are red, whereas EU typically require amber, so this could pose a problem. (We had this topic somewhere.) I know in Sweden there is an exception to the rule if the car is imported as part of moving residence, but no idea about France.

My vote: be patient. Have EU car in EU, and US car in US.

 

[dsm363]

Unfortunately I think you're mistaken here. We have seen for a fact that the rear turn signals in the US are red, whereas EU typically require amber, so this could pose a problem. (We had this topic somewhere.) I know in Sweden there is an exception to the rule if the car is imported as part of moving residence, but no idea about France.

My vote: be patient. Have EU car in EU, and US car in US.

I agree. As painful as it would be to wait, you'll end up with a better Model S in 2 years and not deal with the hassle. Maybe you could lease a Model S in Europe while you're there if they are going to do that.

 

[widodh]

I agree. As painful as it would be to wait, you'll end up with a better Model S in 2 years and not deal with the hassle. Maybe you could lease a Model S in Europe while you're there if they are going to do that.

That seems most logic indeed.

While in France, why not lease a Renault Fluence ZE or Renault ZOE? They have 3-phase charging which is nice for driving in Europe!

 

[doug]

Since you are moving to the EU temporarely I'd not advise to go for the EU model since it will have 3-phase charging, which is kind of useles in the US.

Hopefully that 3phase charger is also designed to be able to handle single phase. Would be a bit silly not to. A 3-phase charger wouldn't be completely useless in the US. There might be a few locations where he could use it. The larger concern is what connector the car is using.

I'd probably go with the temporary lease.

 

[widodh]

Hopefully that 3phase charger is also designed to be able to handle single phase. Would be a bit silly not to. A 3-phase charger wouldn't be completely useless in the US. There might be a few locations where he could use it. The larger concern is what connector the car is using.

The 3-phase charger will also do single phase, but that will be limited to 32A I think.

So if you want to use that in the US you will always be limited to 32A.

Imho it's a lot of work for having a car for just two years in France. Wait for Model S 2.0

 

[doug]

The 3-phase charger will also do single phase, but that will be limited to 32A I think.

So if you want to use that in the US you will always be limited to 32A.

Imho it's a lot of work for having a car for just two years in France. Wait for Model S 2.0

It depends how they implement it, but they should be able to pull 80A or so single phase. But will they have a compatible connector on both sides of the Atlantic.

?

But to the main point, yeah, I would just wait.

 

[Johan]

For home you could always get the HPC, which I believe in Europe also will charge 80A on one phase.

 

[widodh]

For home you could always get the HPC, which I believe in Europe also will charge 80A on one phase.

You'll never get 80A in a residential area in France, not on a single phase.

 

[Johan]

You'll never get 80A in a residential area in France, not on a single phase.

3 phase to the house, transformator to convert to one phase inside. That's how my home is, I have 400V/63A 3-phase coming in to my house, I could easily run a thick wite from the transformator to a HPC (at 80A 240V one phase)

 

[doug]

You'll never get 80A in a residential area in France, not on a single phase.

The relevant scenario there was if he were to get an EU spec Model S, which we assume will be able to do 3-phase, and then brought it back to the US. That's better than having a US spec Model S in Europe incapable of 3 phase charging.