USA - Europe permanent car exchange

[julioalonso]

I know this is a bit of a long shot, but I am going with it nevertheless. I currently live in Florida and have a Late 2013 pre AP 85Kwh Model S, with about 21.000 miles. I will be permanently moving to Spain in June next year. That means I have to sell my Tesla here and then buy an European one when I get there. I am hoping someone is in the opposite situation sometime between now and June 2016 and has a similar version Model S so we could exchange (or most likely privately sell our cars to each other).

Again, I know it is unlikely but I am trying just in case. If anyone is interested please reply and I will provide more details.

 

[sunnyvale]

Same here. I have brand new model X (0 miles) and looking for someone in Europe for exchange.

 

[lklundin]

I know this is a bit of a long shot, but I am going with it nevertheless. I currently live in Florida and have a Late 2013 pre AP 85Kwh Model S, with about 21.000 miles. I will be permanently moving to Spain in June next year. That means I have to sell my Tesla here and then buy an European one when I get there. I am hoping someone is in the opposite situation sometime between now and June 2016 and has a similar version Model S so we could exchange (or most likely privately sell our cars to each other).

Again, I know it is unlikely but I am trying just in case. If anyone is interested please reply and I will provide more details.

Just curious, but why can't you just bring your Model S with you?

Is it something technically specific about the Model S (e.g. charging)?
Or is it something general, like a prohibitively expensive import tax?
Or what?

In fact, what is a US Model S vs a "European one"?

 

[GSP]

In North America and Japan Tesla uses their proprietary charge port, sometimes called "TS02" with single phase chargers.

In Europe, China, Australia, and elsewhere, Tesla uses the industry standard ISO "Type 2" connector, originally designed by Mennekes, with 3-phase chargers.

Differences in European and North American regulations result in other differences in all cars, in exterior lighting for example. A US car would have to be modified and inspected. There are firms that do this, but it can be expensive and time consuming. It is better to trade cars.

GSP

 

[Saghost]

Just curious, but why can't you just bring your Model S with you?

Is it something technically specific about the Model S (e.g. charging)?
Or is it something general, like a prohibitively expensive import tax?
Or what?

In fact, what is a US Model S vs a "European one"?

There are some subtle differences in things like airbags I think, but the big difference is charging, driven by the difference in the power grid and possibly EU regulations.

In the US, three phase power in only present in industrial areas - homes have 240V power, but only a single phase of it.

As a result, EVs built for the US aren't designed to handle three phase power. When Tesla originally developed the Model S, they decided the new SAE standard charging outlet for EVs didn't suit their purposes, so they built their own (and provide an adapter to it with all U.S. cars for public charging.)

Obviously this custom single phase outlet wasn't going to work well in Europe, where three phase power is much more common. Also, EU has mandates about commonality of charging I think - certainly that's why every cell phone for the last decade has used micro USB to charge (except for iPhones, of course - and they ship and adapter to micro USB with every phone in the EU.)

So for Europe, Tesla developed a charger that can handle three phases, and adopted the Type 2 standard there for the car and the supercharger.

Thus, a European Model S can't use a U.S. Supercharger, and vice versa. A U.S. car in Europe can't charge quickly most places (no way to get three phases into the car, and the charger couldn't use them anyway,) and a European car in the U.S. may not be able to, either (not 100% certain, but I don't believe the EU charger can use 80 amps delivered on a single phase.)

The signaling is the same in both regions, though. In principle Tesla could deliver an adaptor for Supercharging, if they can deal with that much power in it, and either car can charge in the other region at reduced rates.

Edit: Apparently I wrote too much. I carefully checked that you didn't have an answer before I started writing, and GSP beat me to it anyway.

 

[S-19910]

Importing US cars into Europe is not supported by Tesla.
And the UScar will not pass the mandatory homologation by European authorities.

Some clever guys tried to import the early Tesla ModelS-2012 in Europe; before the car was available in the EU and they had to send it back.