Tesloop Shares Lessons Learned In 400,000 Miles In A Tesla
Shuttle service Tesloop has hit an astonishing 400,000 miles in one of its Model S vehicles, making it the Tesla with the highest reported mileage in the known world.
Shuttle service Tesloop has hit an astonishing 400,000 miles in one of its Model S vehicles, making it the Tesla with the highest reported mileage in the known world.
As electric vehicle adoption is increasing by the day, it’s important for Tesla (and other EV) owners to know what’s involved in servicing and maintaining an electric car. Compared to traditional gas-powered vehicles, EVs have a low cost of maintenance and require fewer visits to the service center for routine maintenance.
Tesla established itself as the leader in quality of service from its service centers prior to the Model 3 launch, but many people were concerned about Tesla’s ability to scale its service offerings up while maintaining the high levels of quality it had delivered to Model S and X buyers. More and more Model 3s are making it into the hands of eager customers, which invariably means more service calls for issues small and large … and even some small ones that come with large repair bills.
Tesla just officially announced earnings for Q3 2017, and in the update unpacked the backstory behind the early delays in Model 3 production alongside updates on its efforts to improve and expand its Autopilot, Service, and Supercharging offerings.
It’s sweet when you buy a car and it immediately needs service — awesome experience. Seemingly out of pure luck, that’s what happened with the first Tesla Model S we bought for our new Tesla Shuttle service. Days after picking the Model S up from Germany (used, and not through Tesla), “Acceleration Reduced” appeared on the small screen behind the steering wheel, and underneath that in a bit smaller text, “Contact Tesla Service When Convenient.”
The Model 3 is going to level up Tesla’s game in many ways, with the first and foremost being the lower price point. Bringing a Tesla to market that is on par with the average sales price of a new car in the US changes everything and truly opens up the brand to the mass market for the first time in its existence.
100 new service centers, 1,400 new technicians, 350 new mobile service trucks — that’s the Tesla plan to expand its service capabilities to satisfy the needs of its customers as it begins production of the Model 3, its first mass-market car — or so it hopes.
Tesla says it will be selling 500,000 cars a year soon. The odds are good that with all those Teslas running around, some of them are going to find solid objects to run into, causing dings and dents — or worse — that will need to be repaired. Until now, Tesla has required anyone who wants to be certified in Tesla auto body repairs be trained by the company at its dedicated facilities in California. But that means there simply won’t be enough qualified repair personnel to meet the needs of Tesla customers.
In what was likely the most anticipated earnings call ever for Tesla, the auto manufacturer / stationary storage manufacturer / full service solar provider / soon-to-be taxi service / autonomous vehicle technology company (and maybe insurance company in the near future) shared financial results for Q4 2016 and for the full year. Perhaps more importantly, it also unpacked tons of detail for what’s to come in the balance of 2017 and beyond.
Having owned the beast for a year now, I took some time to step back to think about what it’s been like to own a Tesla Model S as compared to our 85 mile range Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive — as well as what ownership is like compared to more conventional gasmobiles.