Owning a Tesla in NZ

[pbkwee]

I see in RHD Model 'S' - importing ? SteveW reports:

VERY important update for kiwis interested in bringing a Model S in from Australia. Tesla Australia have a process in place for you to "take delivery" in Australia without registering or paying any Australian taxes. From that point you can ship the car to NZ and just pay NZ GST on arrival.

Has anyone gone through this process. Any tips or description of that process to share?

I understand the warranty wouldn't cover the car in New Zealand. It seems like the SIM won't work, but you can do something with a 3G wifi dongle.

How have NZ owners found things like servicing? It seems pretty simple per Service plans and something that perhaps a regular automotive service shop could do.

Has anyone needed to do any body work after accidents or dings? Source any replacement parts? How did that go?

For charging it seems like Charging Map | Charge Net NZ is starting to have decent coverage. Any parts of the country you've found too difficult to travel to? Seems like the west coast could get a bit tricky. (Though even petrol guzzlers can need a full tank to make it between stations there).

 

[Alan Hyndman]

Hi pbkwee,

I co-arranged the purchase and import of a Model S for my employer last year (2015). The process after ordering and putting down a deposit was basically as follows:
Plan a trip to Sydney to accept delivery of (and paying for) the car;
Arange insurance from the point it leaves the Telsa showroom;
Arrange trucking across Sydney;
Arrange shipping to NZ;
Arrange transport to an NZTA agent for the VINning process.
We used Classic and Modern Motoring in Petone (Wellington) to arrange everything other than the trip to Sydney and the insurance - if you are in a different part of NZ they can still help, but you can always do it all yourself (it can be a messy business though - especially customs and VINning the car).
Waiting for the car once it arrives in NZ is, I think, the hardest part. It took 3 weeks for our car to go through the VINning process as the NZ Transport Agency process a lot of cars and don't seem to have speed as a priority.

For the SIM, I took one over to Sydney and a technician installed it while I talked with the Delivery Experience Specialist (Adam). It was a Vodafone SIM and was working within 24 or 48 hours so I could track the car's every move in Australia and NZ.

Servicing hasn't been necessary so far - as others have pointed out there should be little to do. There are no oil changes, so we expect servicing wouldn't be much more than brake checks (once you get used to the regenerative braking the brakes get little use), underbody/suspension/tyre checks and maybe a system diagnostic check. Another NZ owner at some point (I can't recall where I saw it) was told by a Tesla Australia employee that once there are 50 Teslas in NZ that a service agent might be set up here. I notice that this article on the NZ Herald website says Elon has announced orders will be taken for NZ: New Zealand to get Tesla Model 3 - Business - NZ Herald News
So maybe all that I've said will be obsolete!

For charging, things are getting better as the months go by (check out Steve West's Charge.Net business) - our Model S hasn't travelled far enough afield to help you on this though.

No bodywork damage significant enough to worry about parts or serious repairs so far...

Cheers,
Alan.

 

[Chuq]

Looks like it could be easier than that!

 

[pbkwee]

Thank you for that info Chuq and Alan. I'm about to reserve a model 3 (to go with my brand new T3SLA plate). Presuming that this isn't a April Fools it seems like owning a Model 3 in NZ just became a no brainer.

 

[MMinehan]

Just 2 days ago I paid my deposit for a Model S, via Sydney. The Tesla agent rang to confirm the order and emailed a special NZ purchase agreement which basically states that I understand that there will be no warranty on the car in NZ. But it also states that if Tesla have a NZ presence they will begin honouring the warranty in NZ.

 

[bmine2nyt]

Im planning to get 70D All wheel drive from sydney and bring it to auckland.
DO you know how much it will cost to landed in NZ? shipping + GST?

Thanks

 

[Robertj]

Ordered my Model 3 yesterday and had it confirmed by email

 

[Akash K]

Is there a Tesla club or members in Wellington? Just would like to see a Model S to consider purchase.

 

[paulp]

Is there a Tesla club or members in Wellington? Just would like to see a Model S to consider purchase.

I'm 2 hours from sydney but west rather than east. So glad I hopped on a plane and did a test drive. It was a life defining moment. I don't have access to superchargers or service centres, but that has not caused me any issues.....yet. Indeed during the seatbelt recall tesla came to the car in my office to do the work. Even easier than taking it to a service centre.

 

[meloccom]

Is there a Tesla club or members in Wellington? Just would like to see a Model S to consider purchase.

You may get an opportunity soon if Steve West's Leading The Charge road trip is coming near you.
You may even get to meet US EV Advocate Chelsea Sexton who was featured in the movie "Who killed the electric car".

 

[Rawbznz]

Im planning to get 70D All wheel drive from sydney and bring it to auckland.
DO you know how much it will cost to landed in NZ? shipping + GST?

Thanks

Hi, it's not entirely straight forward because the list pricing online contains Australian GST and taxes. Basically it will come down to the exchange rate (you have to settle the total amount on the site, pretty much, in full). Once it ships to NZ they refund the Australia taxes but you will have to settle NZ GST when it lands. So depending on timing you could be out of pocket for the entire AUD amount, shipping and insurance cost and the NZ GST. But that's likely to be only a month at the most. Then you have NZ on road costs.

Basically however, again dependent on FX rate, the sticker price in AUD should be about what it will cost you to land it in NZ, but as above, you are out of pocket more than that for a period of time.

If you just have enough, I recommend to wait, by all accounts they may be open in NZ later 2016 or early 2017

 

[alpal]

You may get an opportunity soon if Steve West's Leading The Charge road trip is coming near you.

OMG! Now that's a road trip! Wow.

 

[Alan Hyndman]

Hi, it's not entirely straight forward because the list pricing online contains Australian GST and taxes. Basically it will come down to the exchange rate (you have to settle the total amount on the site, pretty much, in full). Once it ships to NZ they refund the Australia taxes but you will have to settle NZ GST when it lands. So depending on timing you could be out of pocket for the entire AUD amount, shipping and insurance cost and the NZ GST. But that's likely to be only a month at the most. Then you have NZ on road costs.

Basically however, again dependent on FX rate, the sticker price in AUD should be about what it will cost you to land it in NZ, but as above, you are out of pocket more than that for a period of time.

If you just have enough, I recommend to wait, by all accounts they may be open in NZ later 2016 or early 2017

Hi,

That wasn't our experience with buying a Tesla and shipping to NZ. There was no Australian GST paid (nor Luxury Car Tax) prior to the car leaving Australia. It wasn't registered in Aus so couldn't legally be driven on Australian roads (it was trucked to the container depot then put in a container and moved to the ship). I signed a document confirming it was not going to be used in Australia and had 60 days to get it out of the country (otherwise taxes would have been levied).

NZ taxes will have to be paid before it gets released in NZ, unless you have a creditor account with New Zealand Customs.

I'll be impressed if a Tesla shop is opened in NZ in 2017. I'll be stunned if it is opened in 2016. My understanding (and I'm happy to be proved wrong here) is that the contractor building the new Tesla shops in Australia will do the NZ (read Auckland) shop once the Australian shops are completed.

Cheers,
Alan.

 

[MMinehan]

I just landed a 90D and the process was as Rawbznz said. Tesla recently changed the rules regarding paying the taxes due to some legislative changes I was told. I had to pay ALL the Australian taxes (luxury car tax, GST etc) which were then refunded once they had a copy of the bill of laiding from the shipping company. They were pretty quick with the refund and the money was in my account about a week later. You do have to NZ GST before they will release the car in NZ. Container shipping including pickup from Tesla and drop off to a compliance center in NZ cost around $4k. You can get roll on roll off shipping for about $2.5k.

Once in NZ you need to get compliance testing done (about $500) and then registration (about $250). So plan to spend about $5k to get it from Sydney on to the road in NZ.

I would highly recommend going to Sydney to see the car in person and do the 'new owners tour' where they will teach you a few tricks like how to open the car if the battery is flat. There is no support in NZ so you need to learn as much as you can yourself. And of course how to operate everything.

One more thing...you need to send them a NZ SIM card a few weeks before it gets shipped. You will have to activate roaming so they can test it.....which can cost up to $10 a day. You can not install the SIM card yourself. I got a 3GB data plan SIM from Spark.

Hope this helps.

 

[Alan Hyndman]

I just landed a 90D and the process was as Rawbznz said. Tesla recently changed the rules regarding paying the taxes due to some legislative changes I was told. I had to pay ALL the Australian taxes (luxury car tax, GST etc) which were then refunded once they had a copy of the bill of laiding from the shipping company. They were pretty quick with the refund and the money was in my account about a week later.

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Heck, that's annoying - I wonder if this change was to deal with someone who tried to avoid paying taxes on a car that was remaining in Australia.

 

[Rawbznz]

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Heck, that's annoying - I wonder if this change was to deal with someone who tried to avoid paying taxes on a car that was remaining in Australia.

Yes it is a bit. My friend and I have bought one at the same time and both been hit. It seems as they've shipped more they've picked up on things to deal with.

One other note is that NZ GST is calculated at the Customs exchange FX rate not actual day of landing. Quick Google and you'll find the rates that change frequently but are published in advance.

 

[Rawbznz]

I'll be impressed if a Tesla shop is opened in NZ in 2017. I'll be stunned if it is opened in 2016. My understanding (and I'm happy to be proved wrong here) is that the contractor building the new Tesla shops in Australia will do the NZ (read Auckland) shop once the Australian shops are completed.

Cheers,
Alan.

Who knows on the open date, but I would have thought to get Model3 on road in NZ by late 2017 and a supercharger network as Elon tweeted, they'd have to be opening next year to ensure the infrastructure was in place and they could sell cars in NZ.

If you're right they have a way to go in Australia still as they don't have locations in the smaller states like SA/WA. For servicing in WA they fly service rangers out. That said my delivery specialist said they've now sold more into NZ than into the smaller states.

 

[Rawbznz]

I'm keen to hear what people are doing for charging in NZ. Given no super charger network are people buying the Chademo adapter, the EVnomics EV (J1772) adapter? Both? Or just getting by with the HPWC at home and the 10A moblie power adapter. It seems most charging locations are J1772/EV or Chademo right now?

 

[Alan Hyndman]

I'm keen to hear what people are doing for charging in NZ. Given no super charger network are people buying the Chademo adapter, the EVnomics EV (J1772) adapter? Both? Or just getting by with the HPWC at home and the 10A moblie power adapter. It seems most charging locations are J1772/EV or Chademo right now?

As well as the HPWC (single phase as the 3 phase HPWC with 7 metre cable is still in short supply in Aus) we've got a 3 phase (21kW) fast charger bought through JuicePoint at the office. This unit sees the most use. Plus of the course there is the 10A unit for rare occasions.

 

[SteveWest]

One more thing...you need to send them a NZ SIM card a few weeks before it gets shipped. You will have to activate roaming so they can test it.....which can cost up to $10 a day. You can not install the SIM card yourself. I got a 3GB data plan SIM from Spark.

Unless something has changed, the SIM is pretty easy to get at and swap once it's here in NZ.