Electric Car-maker Tesla 'Plugs Into' Chiswick

Opens biggest standalone store in Europe by Hogarth Roundabout

Tesla Motors, the American electric car-maker and energy storage company has opened a showroom on the A4 close to the Hogarth Roundabout. Tesla Chiswick will be the biggest standalone store in Europe with both of the company’s all-electric Model S and Model X ranges on show. The store will be open to the public on Friday.

It will also feature the Tesla design studio and the dual motor Model S rolling chassis. The Chiswick Store is the first in the UK to open with the new Powerwall 2, a battery pack which can power an average two-bedroom home for a full day

The American giant known for its environmentally friendly autos has been expanding into the UK with more and more outlets, from one store opened just over three years ago to 16 locations today. The cars do not come cheap, a second hand Model S automatic advertised in Auto Trader with 14,000 miles on the clock comes up at £59,990. Tesla is also developing the concept of self-drive cars.

Tesla already has a showroom in Westfield and Bluewater shopping centres and a small outlet on Oxford Street, as well as over a dozen others throughout the UK. About three million people come through Tesla retail locations every year as the market for sustainable energy in motoring grows.

For any locals who decide to purchase the news that they will be able to recharge easier will be of interest. Hounslow Council is increasing the number of electric car charging points across the borough and suggested local points were:

Staveley Gardens (Chiswick Homefields)
Spencer Road (Chiswick Riverside)
Edensor Gardens (Chiswick Homefields)
Strand-on-the-Green (Chiswick Riverside)
Sutton Court Road (Chiswick Riverside)
Linden Gardens (Turnham Green)

Of those, Edensor Gardens, Strand-on-the-Green, Sutton Court Road, and Linden Gardens received no objections and have progressed to statutory consultation.

London suffers from poor air quality, with emissions of Nitrogen Dioxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) breaching legal limits. Tailpipe emissions from diesel and petrol vehicles account for a significant proportion of these emissions.

In Hounslow, the entire borough is a declared Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) and is legally required under the Environment Act 1995 to prepare and implement measures to address this issue. One such measure is to encourage the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles and installation of the charging infrastructure required, which is supported both by central government and by the Mayor.

The demand for electric and hybrid vehicles in the UK has increased drastically in the past 5 years – new registrations of plug-in cars increased from 3,500 in 2013 to almost 75,000 at the beginning of July 2016. There has also been a huge increase in the number of electric and plug-in hybrid models available in the UK with a majority of car manufacturers offering an EV as part
of their model range.

The governments expectation is that by 2040 all new vehicle purchases will be either pure-EV or hybrid cars, which the council expects will increase the demand for charge points amongst borough residents.

December 9, 2016