In its unending quest towards bringing electric car technology to the world, Tesla, Inc. is going bold and has now ventured into the heart of the fossil fuel world. Yesterday, the electric car-making company officially launched its operations in the Middle East, with a main distribution and maintenance center situated in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Tesla Ventures To the Middle East
According to Investopedia, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made the announcement official during the World Government Summit held in Dubai. He said that the company would be investing tens of millions of dollars in order to develop the infrastructure needed to support electric vehicles and even predicted that Tesla owners would be able to undertake road trips within the Gulf Cooperation Council (or GCC), which is a grouping of six countries within the Middle East, by next year.
As of now, The United Arab Emirates already has two Supercharger stations and 26 Tesla destination chargers placed in different key areas. This is just Tesla's first step towards establishing its presence in the Middle East.
Tesla's Bold Move
At first glance, it seems that Tesla's move into a region that is home to the largest oil producers in the world is pretty bold and foolish. In fact, according to some analysts and experts, the adoption of electric vehicles in this area is, no doubt, going to be slower in the Middle East compared with most other regions of the world due to the availability of fuel as an alternative.
Will Tesla's Move Be Worth It?
The CIA Factbook even estimated that fossil fuels have accounted for 99.8 percent of the UAE's electricity needs in 2012. However, that reliance on fossil fuels could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Tesla. In an interview with the local Dubai media, Musk made the case that recently rising oil prices to go along with cheap electricity prices in the region could carve out a market for Tesla's electric cars.
According to CNBC, The Road and Transport Authority of Dubai has even signed an agreement to buy 200 Tesla vehicles to be turned into taxis as part of a move to transform 25 percent of its total journeys into autonomous journeys by 2020.
