Tesla has managed to open two service centers in three months, bringing the year's total to twelve. If we assume the company delivered 20,000 cars over these three months, then the number of Teslas on the road has reached 180,000. With 131 centers that means there are 1,374 cars per center. For context, at the end of 2013 there were only 513 cars per center. In other words, the figure has nearly tripled - and will surely cross the tripling mark in 2017. No wonder the company is increasingly using Enterprise rentals instead of loaners, cutting back on the valet service (which was supposed to be free). This happens even as the company re-states its intention of selling 500,000 cars in 2018, which is to say between 12 and 24 months from now. Just to maintain the current abysmal car-to-center ratio that would mean adding 1 service center every day of the year. Now, I don't believe they will sell anything near that figure. But if it's the company's aim, shouldn't they be pulling out all the stops to build additional centers? Tesla frequently brags about the quality of its service, and you had better like it because the company makes it all but impossible to have your car serviced anywhere else.
Read Article