12:28 pm, June 1, 2023
Tesla is offering an extra £2,000 trade-in on selected EVs this month in a bid to take petrol and diesel vehicles off UK roads.
It says that during June customers can trade in ICE vehicles that are worth less than £2,000 and receive an additional £2,000 towards a new Model 3, pictured, or a Model Y.
As an example, if the trade-in value of their car is £1,500, Tesla says it’ll not only give them £1,500 for the trade-in but also another £2,000, totalling £3,500.
But an industry expert says that although it seems a good idea on the surface, the trade-in prices on offer are low and Tesla may struggle to find people who can still afford its cars.
What’s more, scrapping the petrol and diesel cars could cause other environmental problems.
Customers have to receive confirmation between June 1 and June 30 that their vehicle’s trade-in value is less than £2,000.
If they qualify, they can then trade in their vehicle with Tesla and it’ll apply the contribution as a credit towards their Tesla’s final price.
However, Tom Barnard, editor-in-chief of Electrifying.com, said: ‘It might seem like a good thing to get older, more-polluting cars off the road and replace them with a Tesla, but there can’t be many buyers who are able to make the leap from a banger to a £50,000 car.
‘While it might be a good deal for someone whose car has just failed its MOT and is going for scrap, the trade-in prices offered by Tesla seem to be on the low side.
‘The web value tool offered £1,668 for a 2012 Fiat Panda with 33,000 miles, which Auto Trader suggested was worth £3,300 in a private sale.’
He added: ‘There’s also the thorny environmental question of scrapping cars which still have some life left in them.
‘While getting rid of petrol and diesel vehicles obviously has a benefit for air quality, there will be plenty of drivers who feel it is wasteful to “throw away” a car which could provide economical transport for several years.’
