Right-hand drive Tesla Model S electric cars have already begun to trickle out in the United Kingdom, but now they're hitting the Asian markets too.
The first Asian right-hand drive Model S have now been delivered to the first eight customers in Hong Kong.
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Coinciding with a large launch event at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in the city, Jerome Guillen, Tesla’s Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Service, also unveiled the first Supercharger stations.
Like those established elsewhere in the world, Model S owners will be able to recharge their vehicles completely free of charge--and Tesla says the Hong Kong stations are the fastest and most powerful yet installed.
The city of Hong Kong is considered a 'Special Administrative Region' of China, but unlike the People's Republic, Hong Kong residents drive on the left-hand side of the road, unchanged since Britain's 99-year lease on the former colony ended in 1997.
That makes Hong Kong one of few countries that will receive right-hand drive Model Ss--others right-hand drive markets include the UK, Japan, Australia and South Africa.
Tesla's cars should be appropriate for Hong Kong's streets though, where congestion and pollution are both major problems.
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Like other Chinese cities, air pollution and smog are rife, and the city has put in place several measures to spur the adoption of electric vehicles. These include a waiver of the city's first registration tax, the installation of over a thousand standard, level 2 chargers, and other initiatives aimed at increasing electric vehicle use.
Hong Kong also has plans to remove many of the city's most polluting vehicles--many of which are decades behind the pollution standards held in Europe and the U.S.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk wasn't at the launch event, but did recently make an appearance on The Colbert Report. During his interview, Musk talked SpaceX and Tesla--the latter of which Colbert is already an owner.
Musk responded to Colbert's question about Tesla's open patents by likening it to having a great design for a bucket to bail out a sinking ship--that the sensible thing to do is to share that bucket design with everyone else for the mutual benefits.
You can catch the interview below, or watch the Tesla Hong Kong launch above.
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