Elon Musk’s solution for Tesla drivers in right-hand-drive countries is bizarre
Published on Jul 05, 2023 at 4:15 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Jul 06, 2023 at 2:32 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
Tesla is phasing out production of right-hand-drive models, which is bad news for buyers in countries like Japan, the UK and Australia.
But it gets worse.
The American automaker came up with a workaround solution for the issue and it’s making everything a lot weirder.
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The EV maker has introduced something called The Reacher.
The Reacher is literally an extendable plastic grabbing stick that you can use to reach the other side of the car.
This, in Tesla’s mind, is what UK drivers are supposed to use whenever they have to retrieve a parking ticket from a machine or grab a burger from a drive-thru.
Imagine driving a $100,000 Tesla Model S and using that to grab your food at a drive-thru.
Even worse, imagine telling people it was an official Tesla product.
Tesla made the decision to stop making RHD versions for the Model S and Model X to lower production costs.
So if you’re based in the UK, or any other country where the steering wheel is on the right-hand side of the vehicle, you’re going to have to make do with LHD versions of these models.
Alternatively, you can still get a Model 3 and Model Y with the steering wheel on the right.
The Reacher does sound like an Easter Egg, even though it isn’t, and the financial consequences of Tesla’s decision will be clear in the near future.
Tesla knows this will affect sales, but presumably the company also knows how much money it’ll save by not making RHD versions of those two models.
Hopefully, they did the math right.
In the meantime, the internet is doing what it does best: having an opinion.
“What a sheer act of arrogance from Tesla,” one user said.
“Shame on Tesla,” another wrote.
Mind you, some people aren’t particularly displeased.
“Elon Musk trolling the Brexit country,” a Twitter user commented.
“If Tesla reintroduces RHD, and only a limited number of the Reachers are given, they might become rare collectibles,” another said.
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