Tesla To Start Selling Electric Vehicles In Israel This Month

Electric car manufacturer Tesla is set to become an official importer of cars into Israel in 2021, Israeli financial daily Globes reported on Monday.

The US electric car giant has received a license from the Ministry of Transportation for commercial imports of its vehicles, permitting it to begin “a full operation with no limit on volume,” Globes reported.

Tesla is an automotive and energy company based in Palo Alto, California and is famously run by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk. The company specializes in electric car manufacturing and solar panel manufacturing through its SolarCity subsidiary.

This is the first time that a vehicle manufacturer has received a license for direct importing and marketing of vehicles in Israel, rather than through a local dealer or in partnership with a dealer, Globes indicated. Prior to receiving the license, Tesla operated in Israel as a “small importer,” which allowed it to bring in up to twenty vehicles, mainly for testing.

According to the report, Tesla will begin taking its first online orders in the next few days, with its first models visible on Israeli roads in the coming months.

Tesla was expected to launch its commercial operations in Israel in January 2020, with a pop-up store in Ramat Aviv mall in Tel Aviv, but the launch was delayed by regulatory hurdles, according to The Jerusalem Post.