Overseas charging?

[Bonfig]

I have a 2014 S P85 that I got last year in great condition and love driving (with dealer extras and aftermarket tweaks, 2014 price was 160k). At my purchase, for 30k, it had 120k miles on it but was in excellent condition...full charge is at 240 miles. I added 20k in improvements (frt lip spoiler, windshield, tires, brakes, rotors, drive motor). So I'm 50k into the car, just so you can better tweak your advice on this.

In 2 years, it's very likely I'll be retiring to Sardinia, an Italian island that currently only maps 4 Tesla chargers in my area (3 at private hotels, 1 public). What do you think I would be looking at in terms of cost in getting my vehicle to this island, worth it? And, once there, what charging issue might I be expected to encounter?...I've heard of Teslas "dying" from using overseas chargers.

And, do I still get free charging at public chargers in Italy?

Thanks for anyone digging deep on this one.

 

[Bonfig]

Importing a car from outside the EU, you will have to pay VAT (20%) + import duties (10%).

Legal requirements are different between the EU and the US so you will also have to make some adaptations. For example xenon headlights above 25W have to be equipped with headlight washers, which do not exist for the Model S so you'll have to change your light bulbs (and ballast maybe?). Blinkers are also different. And the Italian administration is not known to be flexible.

Tesla does not support such operations, there has been many reports of Model S at the beginning of production coming from parallel imports from the US and losing all support: no manufacturer guarantee, no supercharging, etc. This coming of course on top of the different plugs needed for charging. Some of these former US imports can now be found on the used car market with huge discounts... It means your own car will also lose a lot of value in the operation, despite the import costs.

In a nutshell this is not worth it. Although not as common as in the US, it is still easy to find a Model S in Europe. You can probably find one in Italy or import one from Germany, Netherlands or France. As long as you stay inside the EU there are no taxes on import of used cars and the process is much easier (although always different from one country to another).

Importing a car from the US to Europe is common for old muscle cars, but in your case I think it does not really make sense.
That being said I went with the whole family twice to Sardaigna and I really love this place. This is one of the places on Earth where people still take their time to enjoy the simple things of life.

Thank you...truly valuable information. I'll likely just sell it and buy another in Europe. PS I am organizing a VERY small tour group to Sardinia in July of '23 with an extremely personalized and eclectic itinerary (my wife is Sardinian and we go there for a month every year). Interested?

 

[Anth89]

Thank you...truly valuable information. I'll likely just sell it and buy another in Europe. PS I am organizing a VERY small tour group to Sardinia in July of '23 with an extremely personalized and eclectic itinerary (my wife is Sardinian and we go there for a month every year). Interested?

Thanks for the proposal!

Unfortunately I don't live that close to Sardinia... But who knows? Do not hesitate to send me a message once your trip is organized.