Taking a cue from house-call services like Best Buy’s Geek Squad, electric carmaker Tesla Motors is launching a maintenance plan where mechanics travel to owners’ homes or offices to perform repairs and tuneups.
Tesla, which makes the $109,000 Roadster electric car, said the plan is convenient for customers who won’t have to bring their vehicle to a showroom, while cutting costs by making a large network of Tesla service locations unnecessary.
“You know how there’s a Chevy dealer on every block or strip mall? We don’t intend to have a footprint like this,” spokeswoman Rachel Konrad said.
But the service won’t be cheap. The carmaker will charge vehicle owners $1 for every roundtrip mile its technicians travel, from showroom to garage, with a minimum charge of $100 per trip. The Associated Press
“Instead of taking cues only from the auto industry, Tesla relied on customer feedback from some of its 700 owners and studied pioneering retailers such as Zappos.com, the computer repair service Geek Squad, and fresh-to-your-doorstep organic produce delivery services,” the company said in a prepared statement.
Tesla recalled hundreds of its Roadster cars in May because of a steering problem, and began its house call service at that time.
In June the company won about $465 million in U.S. Department of Energy loans. Bizjournals.com
Tesla has just four dealerships across the country, in Menlo Park, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York. But with more than 700 cars sold, the company has customers in all 50 states, said Rachel Konrad.
Those customers will need some way to have their cars serviced. Right now, if a Tesla Roadster needs repairs beyond simple body work, the owner has to ship it to the nearest dealership, Konrad said.
“It was very clear from customers that they didn’t want any hassle at all, and the only way to do that is to go to their homes and offices,” she said. San Francisco Chronicle
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