constantnormalBack in May Mr. Musk targeted July as the month he begins shipping, they already have "Tesla Stores" set up in nine European countries.
With an EU-average retail gas price of about $8.33/gal (USD) (assuming I have done the arithmetic correctly), one wonders why Elon does not just build a manufacturing plant in Ireland, produce cars and charging stations, and roll everything back into the business tax-free … one would think that a model S made in Ireland would cost no more in the EU than a BMW or Volvo, and the shorter driving distances there, coupled with a lot more solar electric generation per capita, should make this extremely competitive in those markets.
Yes, the 99% in the EU are having the economic life stomped out of them, but I suspect that in the EU, just as in the US, the 1% have hardly changed their lifestyles, and Tesla should be able to sell many hundreds/thousands of these cars there, while simultaneously dominating the plug-in charging station markets.
At about the same time Goldman estimated the order rate in Europe was about 200 per month, probably not enough to set up that Irish factory.
