Romania is not a country where EVs have taken off quite in the same way as in countries in the western part of Europe. Sales all electric cars are picking up, though, and there were over 160 Teslas registered in the country at the start of 2020, despite the fact that American EV manufacturer is not yet officially present here (the number of Teslas in the country today is even higher, but the only data we have is from February, 2020).

Tesla originally announced its intentions to expand into Romania (as well as Poland, Hungary and Slovenia) back in 2019. However, even though they were all announced at the same time, the showroom in Poland is already open and the plan is to add a dedicated service center close to it sometime in 2021.

For its first location in Romania, Tesla will most likely choose a location in the north of the country’s capital, Bucharest, where most premium automakers already have showrooms, so it seems like a natural fit. It’s also in this area where you find the largest concentration of Tesla vehicles - the number of new Teslas registered in the country has apparently risen by 250% in 2020.

Until now, those who wanted a Tesla ordered it online and then took delivery of the vehicle from one of the manufacturer’s locations in western Europe (usually in Vienna, Austria). Many of the Teslas registered in Romania aren’t brand new, although few any older than 3 years. For its Bucharest location, Tesla is currently hiring five people: a store manager, two service techs, a service manager and a sales consultant.

Once the manufacturer is officially present in Romania, people will be able to order the cars straight from Tesla and also take advantage of the country’s excellent EV buying incentive, which is one of the highest in the European union (almost €10,000). We’ll have to wait for local pricing information, but this essentially means a base Model 3 will start at around €33,000 for a Standard Range+ model with the rebate factored in.

We don’t know if the Model Y will be available for purchase immediately after the center opens, but we’re pretty sure that the Model 3, Model S and Model X will be available. The Model Y will probably be added to the list of available models once it goes into production in Europe, at Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory (that’s still under construction).

Tesla has also said it will be expanding its Supercharger network into Romania too. These Superchagers will be installed in Bucharest, Craiova and Brăila, but we don’t know exactly when. It is likely that at least the one in Bucharest will be opened in 2021, but all three are currently listed as ‘ coming soon. ‘ But for the next few years, we predict that Romanian Tesla owners will mostly have to rely on third party chargers or just charge their cars at home via a wallbox.

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