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Elon Musk, the billionaire boss of Tesla cars, believes the UK will soon replace Norway as the number one market for electric vehicles in Europe.

He made the assertion at the handover of the first ever right-hand drive Tesla Model S car last Saturday in London.

Just in case anyone thought he was merely 'buttering up' his UK customer base, he also said he was planning to set up a research and development centre in Britain.

He also foresaw that in the long run, Tesla may even establish a production plant in the UK – although this would only happen after a factory has been built on continental Europe. And neither of these possibilities will take place until European sales surpass 160,000 a year.

Given that European sales are presently 3,467, it will be some time before a UK-built Telsa becomes a reality.

Back in the U.S. however, sales are even lower – at 2,050 – which is why Mr Musk is focussing so much on his more enthusiastic customers across the Atlantic.

With a view to making his all-electric cars even more attractive, Musk announced his firm will be setting up 20 Tesla charge points across the UK – all free to use for life. One of the London charge points will be able to re-charge 12 cars at a time. After 30 minutes plugged into these superchargers, the given Tesla will be 80 per cent charged; after 40 minutes, it will be fully charged.

As time goes on and electric cars become more and more feasible as replacements to combustion engine vehicles, there are likely to be big changes to our motoring lives – from charge points to the type of services offered by vehicle recovery providers.

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