Service centers and the Model 3

[Red Sage]

What I imagine is that Tesla Motors has a whole lot of really smart, exceptionally capable people working for them that are sincerely driven toward making a change in the way that cars are bought, sold, fueled, and serviced. I believe that most of the things we may discuss are things they have already considered, and have already determined a course of action to handle. I admit that for all their plans, the fact that they handle just about everything in a logical manner sometimes blinds them to the fact there are forces that are out to do them ill. So, their plans are postponed or derailed due to challenges, both legal and under-the-table. I sense that all that resistance to their forward progress is only temporary, if not expressly planned for ahead of time. Those States that expressly forbid or limit expansion of Tesla Motors and the use of their preferred business model will, in time, be forced to give in. That will be due to either the force of their Constituency (who want to own Tesla Motors cars without legal roadblocks) or intervention from the Federal level (through the Court system or regulatory mandate), or both.

 

[MassModel3]

Another thing to keep in mind is that a Tesla doesn't need to go in for service as routinely as an ICE does. There are only a handful of moving parts on a Tesla's drive train compared to a gas engine, and Tesla is working toward the million mile motor as a goal.

Beyond that, you have the standard power windows, steering, and assorted electronics and sensors, most of which will never fail. You don't need to take the Tesla in for routine maintenance nearly as frequently as an ICE, so fewer service centers is expected.

That being said, I have a relatively early model (May 2013) and it has had several trips to the shop, but mostly for things that have changed in the later models anyway. So hopefully Model 3's coming out 5 years later than my S will have most of the growing pains worked out. Besides, I'm confident Tesla will open as many service centers as it needs to support the Model 3 owners.

 

[Transepoch]

Hiring a few more people per SC is not a solution if the cars don't fit in the building.

I would think an expansion of the Rangers and utilizing non-public facing facilities could relieve a lot of that problem.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Az_Rael, it's a valid point, one the general public will surely consider when wondering wether to make the leap to EVs or not. One advantage of the dealership model of other OEMs is that there are a lot of them, fairly well distributed and staffed, and with a host of independent shops besides. As others have written above, Tesla is well aware of this aspect of managing its growth and is doing its best to meet the challenge. Given 2 more years to work on that, and the lesser needs of EVs for service, and things should work out well enough. Worrying about the future can be helpful sometimes, other times, not so much. In my fourth year of EV driving (Leaf) I've only once needed a non-scheduled service and that was handled at a local tire shop. But I do enjoy having a dealer only 3 miles away if I did need it, and for the few scheduled things. The closest Tesla service is an hour away, and there's currently only three in New England, so I'm hoping they expand as well. As worries go, it's pretty low risk, and won't stop me from gambling on a $1000 refundable deposit.

Side note: How do you type the three horizontal bars for model 3?

 

[Red Sage]

Side note: How do you type the three horizontal bars for model 3?

There are multiple ways of doing so... But they are not all available on every computing platform. AMPLE WARNING: At least one of the moderators here absolutely despises seeing that emblem in posts. NOTE: I don't really care. ;-)

• If you are using a Windows or Linux machine, bring up the Character Map program. Go to the 'Mathematical Operators' section of the Unicode Block. Choose the IDENTICAL TO emblem ( ≡ ). Copy and paste it into your post. (When you select these from the list, a keyboard shortcut is noted in the notification area.)
  
  
• If you are using an Apple or Android machine, you can simply use the HTML for the IDENTICAL TO emblem. Enter the ampersand ( & ), a pound ( # ), the numeral '8801', followed by a semicolon ( ; ). So, all seven characters in a row. Once you submit your post, the emblem will appear ( ≡ ). (This method does work for Windows and Linux as well.)
  
  
• The emblem that looks best may also be found in a Character Map program, but apparently cannot be seen on Apple machines or Android devices. It is the TRIGRAM for 'HEAVEN'. You'll find it as part of the 'Miscellaneous Symbols' section of the Unicode Block. It looks like this: ☰

I hope this helps!

 

[S3XY]

There are enough people on here that use it that you can easily just copy and paste it from a previous post.

 

[Twiglett]

There are multiple ways of doing so... But they are not all available on every computing platform. AMPLE WARNING: At least one of the moderators here absolutely despises seeing that emblem in posts. NOTE: I don't really care. ;-)

• If you are using a Windows or Linux machine, bring up the Character Map program. Go to the 'Mathematical Operators' section of the Unicode Block. Choose the IDENTICAL TO emblem ( ≡ ). Copy and paste it into your post. (When you select these from the list, a keyboard shortcut is noted in the notification area.)
  
  
• If you are using an Apple or Android machine, you can simply use the HTML for the IDENTICAL TO emblem. Enter the ampersand ( & ), a pound ( # ), the numeral '8801', followed by a semicolon ( ; ). So, all seven characters in a row. Once you submit your post, the emblem will appear ( ≡ ). (This method does work for Windows and Linux as well.)
  
  
• The emblem that looks best may also be found in a Character Map program, but apparently cannot be seen on Apple machines or Android devices. It is the TRIGRAM for 'HEAVEN'. You'll find it as part of the 'Miscellaneous Symbols' section of the Unicode Block. It looks like this: ☰

I hope this helps!

On my mac I've found I can use a text replacement. Its in System Preferences, Keyboard, Text.
Just add a new replace string, in my case I chose m 3 s together, then cut and pasted the symbol into the "with"
So now every time I enter those three letters it does a replace and does ☰ instead
Much easier!

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Excellent, thanks all of you.

Why would a mod object? I thought that was its official designation.

 

[tga]

Excellent, thanks all of you.

Why would a mod object? I thought that was its official designation.

The primarily complaint was it breaks the forum's search capabilities. You can't search for "model ≡", but you can search for "model 3".

 

[Model 3]

Why would a mod object? I thought that was its official designation.

The name of the car is "Model 3". What they have said they will do is to write the number "3" as this ☰ symbol - probably on the back of the car and perhaps in the "logo" section of their website.

 

[1208]

There are multiple ways of doing so... But they are not all available on every computing platform. AMPLE WARNING: At least one of the moderators here absolutely despises seeing that emblem in posts.I hope this helps!

If th☰ said mod☰rator r☰ads this post, aft☰r b☰ing driv☰n up th☰ wall, th☰y will s☰nd this post to snippin☰ss.:smile:

 

[Twiglett]

If th☰ said mod☰rator r☰ads this post, aft☰r b☰ing driv☰n up th☰ wall, th☰y will s☰nd this post to snippin☰ss.:smile:

Oh No!
Pl☰as☰ don't do that, w☰ won't b☰ abl☰ to find th☰ posts th☰n

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

You ar☰ out of control, pl☰as☰ r☰turn to topic.

 

[gregincal]

The name of the car is "Model 3". What they have said they will do is to write the number "3" as this ☰ symbol - probably on the back of the car and perhaps in the "logo" section of their website.

I believe they've said they might do that, not that they will do that. Every communication Tesla has ever done about the Model 3 has just used a normal 3.

 

[Chuq]

Don't forget that after the first week of April, they're going to have a really good idea as to the future distribution of the Model 3. I would expect they would have plans/ideas now for future locations, and these will be tweaked once the "potential new owner" stats come in.

Another possibility is service centres going 24 hour - no more locations needed, just more staff. They can get 2-3 times as many cars processed in the same amount of time.

 

[Troy]

Hi. Here is a graph and some projections. You can find the detailed table here. Focusing too much on Model 3 seems wrong. At the end of 2018, the existing S and X fleet in the USA will be 4 times the size it was at the end of 2015. It will take a few years after 2018 until there are more Model 3 cars on the road than S and X.

Number of Teslas on the road in USA at the end of each year (includes the Roadster, S, X and 3):
2015: 63,771 (This is mostly based on numbers Tesla released a few days ago for 2014 and 2015 USA registrations)
2016: 102,403 (This is based on Tesla's guidance for 2016)
2017: 164,551
2018: 265,827

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

https://apple.news/AD3LDlYk1RLmLfbLscE6CcA

 

[Twiglett]

Hi. Here is a graph and some projections. You can find the detailed table here. Focusing too much on Model 3 seems wrong. At the end of 2018, the existing S and X fleet in the USA will be 4 times the size it was at the end of 2015. It will take a few years after 2018 until there are more Model 3 cars on the road than S and X.

Number of Teslas on the road in USA at the end of each year (includes the Roadster, S, X and 3):
2015: 63,771 (This is mostly based on numbers Tesla released a few days ago for 2014 and 2015 USA registrations)
2016: 102,403 (This is based on Tesla's guidance for 2016)
2017: 164,551
2018: 265,827

Nice to see it as a chart - it really will be 2019 or 2020 before there are more Model 3 than there are Model S/X
I looked at the supercharger numbers in another thread - by 2018 there will be well over a 1000 more superchargers as well.
Model 3 is going to have zero impact on service center or supercharger so called over-crowding compared to S/X

 

[vjason]

Always surprised that more auto service centers don't offer more evening hours. Granted I'm not a mechanic/tech so I don't know if they don't want to work evenings, but I have to assume they'd rather work evenings than weekends right? Heck give them options for 4x10/3x13.3/etc schedules so they get more days off.

I'd jump all over evening service hours; it would prevent me from scheduling them on Saturdays. I realize some appointments require a drop off; maybe in a few years with full autonomous they can have them drop you off/pick you up as well (if required).

There are plenty of ways to expand service center throughput without having to build more of them.

Don't forget that after the first week of April, they're going to have a really good idea as to the future distribution of the Model 3. I would expect they would have plans/ideas now for future locations, and these will be tweaked once the "potential new owner" stats come in.

Another possibility is service centres going 24 hour - no more locations needed, just more staff. They can get 2-3 times as many cars processed in the same amount of time.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

https://apple.news/AD3LDlYk1RLmLfbLscE6CcA

Now T☰SLA is saying the changes to service charges and transferability were posted in error.