In mid-November, Tesla registered a subsidiary in Israel under the name Tesla Motors Israel Ltd..
According to the entry in the company registry, the company business is "The importation, distribution, sale, maintenance and repair of electric vehicles and mobile energy storage systems, energy generation systems and equipment, including solar panels, solar energy systems, and / or other solar energy conversion systems, and in general all other energy generation systems, accompanying products, parts, accessories and accompanying equipment, and to develop, own, operate, purchase, sell, maintain, plan, engineer, obtain, build, install and order fixed energy storage systems, and energy generation systems and equipment (whether directly or by setting up special purpose entities formed for the purposes of maintaining assets as mentioned.) "
Tesla Inc. plans to begin operations in Israel in January, according to sources. A local team already decided to open a pop-up store at Ramat Aviv Mall in Tel Aviv. A pop-up store will allow potential customers to review some Tesla cars, especially its popular Model 3.
January 1, it became known that Tesla opens an R&D office in Israel. In the first stage, Israel R&D operations will focus on exploring for local startups and technologies involved in areas of interest for Tesla as well as talks and information exchange with Israeli companies, with some of whom Tesla has already had a business and technological relationship over the past two or three years.
According to the source familiar with this, Tesla is also considering the possibility of creating a R&D center that will work directly with the company's R&D center in Palo Alto. If Tesla establishes an Israeli R&D center, it will employ dozens of engineers, and will have dimensions similar to the Israeli development centers of many other automakers, manufacturers and suppliers of automotive spare parts of the first level.
Today it became known that Tesla Inc. opens a store on Menachem Begin Road in Tel Aviv. According to a Calcalist source, the company is in talks to rent a showroom of 2,000 square meters on the street that once housed luxury car dealerships for car manufacturers Ferrari and Maserati.
According to this source, the company has already brought several of its cars into the building. Calcalist employees visited the building and found several Tesla cars that were already in the premises, most of them were Model 3.
Tesla will be the first car manufacturer to sell its cars in Israel itself, and not through an importer.