Alan Stainer

Tech head through and through.

Something which doesn’t get talked about enough

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Something which doesn’t get talked about enough

When we talk about electric vehicles the common points of discussion are efficiency, carbon footprint, range and recharging. No where near enough discussion goes on about the maintenance costs of running an electric vehicle.

This piece about Tesla and the reasons why they sell direct to customers needs to be shouted from the roof tops.

h/t Craig Froehle 

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/21/this-is-why-tesla-is-so-insistent-on-selling-direct-to-customers/

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Jon Gritton says

    It’s a very valid point, but it’s surely not true that Tesla’s won’t need any repairs.  Although engine service/repair is a large proportion of the bill for gas cars, things like wheel bearings, power steering, wiper motors, etc. will all eventually need replacing so someone is going to have to do that, even if the need is few and far between.

    What about crash damage?  If your Tesla is injured in a non-write-off situation, who repairs it?

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m a total Tesla enthusiast (who dearly wishes he could afford one), but there does need to be some sort of support/service.

  3. Alan Stainer says

    I think the point they are trying to make is that while there will inevitably be some form of maintenance required (tyres wear out, etc.) it isn’t enough to be a viable source of revenue. At least for Tesla the amount of revenue generated by that sort of maintenance must be tiny compared with that generated by the sale of their cars.

  6. Jon Gritton says

    Alan Stainer that’s a problem though, isn’t it?  If the amount of revenue generated by Tesla repairs/servicing is not enough to support a business, who’s going to do it?

    In the near future it’ll probably be done by existing garages as part of their larger offering to gas cars, but in a future where EVs are the majority, how will the servicing/repair market work?

  7. Alan Stainer says

    That is indeed a problem for the servicing/repair market, but is that a bad thing? It isn’t the first time that technology has moved on and older industries have faded away. Not many blacksmiths were needed once cars and mass manufacturing came along. Now we are talking about reliability and less maintenance, which is a good thing isn’t it?

  8. Jon Gritton says

    Alan Stainer no argument there, if it needs to change and move on, it needs to, I just wonder how it will work.  

    It’s easy to see how it might be OK in larger urban areas where there’s enough “wheel bearing” replacements to make the business profitable, but rural areas, not so much.

    Maybe we should start our own Tesla repair business and get in early :)

  13. Mac Baird says

    When demand for EV repairs ever manifests, a repair industry will appear. Tesla just needs to ensure the parts are available at a fair price.

  14. Mac Baird says

    The combustion engine automobile dealership industry exists on after market maintenance revenue. They don’t encourage EV sales because they only get a single commission. I have been driving a Nissan Leaf for more than four years and 46k miles. I am on my second set of tires that I purchased cheaper somewhere else, and I still get 5.2 miles/kWh at $0.10.

  15. Mac Baird says

    If Tesla was smart, they would have roving troubleshooters ready to make house calls whenever and wherever needed. A Tesla owner could call an 800 number to report a problem, and a Tesla certified technician would show up at his/her home within 24 hours, with parts delivered by FedEx or UPS in short order. Better yet, the Tesla factory connects remotely to the vehicle to troubleshoot it, and the technician brings the required part with him. I have a feeling that Tesla Technicians would feel a lot like the proverbial Maytag Repairman. Any non-electronic mechanical problem could be handled by the local neighborhood garage.