We joined Tesla's mobile repair service and it was not at all what we thought

Like many other things, even when it comes to service, Tesla does everything differently.

In fact, it does something that every other manufacturer would have been horrified by, but after a day with Tesla's staff I do not understand why

Keenan Cohen

27/05/2022

Friday, 27 May 2022, 00:56 Updated: 07:34

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The invitation to visit behind the scenes of Tesla's service center and accompany the day with its mobile repair team came as a surprise.

It's no secret that Tesla does not exactly behave in front of media outlets like any other traditional manufacturer, it's just one more aspect of the way it works.

What she wants to say to her customers she does directly, what she wants to say to the world does for her Elon Musk and in between she just does what she is best at - being Tesla.

And being a Tesla, that means doing the majority, if not everything is completely different from any other manufacturer.

If it's almost complete control of the whole production process with minimal reliance on outsourcing (on the pros and cons of it), if it's produce the car with all the fittings inside and just "open" to access the relevant features according to purchase, break the old paradigm of "Money is power" and offering a lot of performance without a lot of money, and yes, sometimes even ensuring all sorts of things I zero in on, don't really happen in reality.

But there's one more thing she does completely differently - she does not want to see you.

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Almost any routine or less routine treatment can be performed at the customer's home (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

For her, the dairy violation of car maintenance - getting to the service center - is the last resort

wait, what?

What does "I do not want to see you" mean.

So first of all an introduction;

For regular car manufacturers, the whole issue of regular car maintenance is an integral part of the business model.

That is, the purchase of the car is one part of the story, to which "profit units" are added throughout the life of the car in the routine maintenance, in spare parts, in maintenance that they all aspire to do with them.

At Tesla, it does not work that way, it does not work that way even at its level of perception.

They really see the cancellation of treatments as a goal, as a statement that the vehicle does not need regular maintenance.

So it's true that in reality it does not really exist, because even if you take the engine out of the equation every car still needs maintenance, there are shock absorbers, there are steering systems, bearings, battery cooling systems, air filter, window mechanisms, and even an electric car has pistons for the hood or compartment The charge and they too are seasoned.

Still, for her the dairy violation of car maintenance - getting to the service center - is the last resort and certainly not something that should be part of the car’s life routine.

Because why should she be?

In fact, since 2019, Tesla has completely eliminated even the need for an annual audit, using the information it has accumulated for research based on billions of miles of driving in its cars, which constantly transmit data to Tesla and help it build predictive maintenance models and implement them through periodic review. Remote of the cars according to this expectation.

The espresso did not cool down and the first treatment of the day ended (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

And the customers?

At least Hillel, Eli and Yura - the three Model 3 owners I met that day - are crazy about this segment.

"I come from Mercedes and Udi," says Hillel, "I have never had such a thing."

He is 80 years old, from Savyon, drives a Model 3 performance and proves that age is only a number and a car of 3.3 seconds per 100 km / h may be the secret to longevity. She's being cared for and at that time I'm waiting there. "" And what did you have here? "I ask," What was it?

Nothing, I opened a service call that I smelled bad from the air conditioner, I was scheduled for a visit from a service person and here you are. " He sits down with us for a drink and continues to shower compliments on the service "I feel America, it's a service that makes me feel America".

And what still bothers you at Tesla?

I ask - "they need to set up more showrooms with people to explain about the car, people do not know what they are driving."

We quickly fold from Savyon, get on the Y model that Tesla attached to me for that day (we'll talk about it in detail on occasion) and drive to the next customer.

On the way, I roll over in my head the conversation that opened the morning at the Tesla service center in Petah Tikva.

The place that society describes as "the last resort".

I ask what characterizes Tesla's mobile service technician.

And the truth is I could see their answer throughout that day, but Tesla's portable technician should actually be a few things.

He is also a service person who is in the most crowded point of friction with the customer and one can imagine that if it is due to a malfunction, then it does not always happen in some endearing atmosphere.

He of course should also be a technical person, i.e. having the practical ability to solve things in practice but also with the mental flexibility of producing diagnoses in the field to understand if the repaired fault is just a symptom of something else and keep in touch with the service center.

Model X can not be missed (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

The next destination is in Rishpon, where we will meet Eli.

And while I'm trying to figure out if this is the correct address, I see Tesla's utility vehicle, this time the Model X is standing outside the house and it's not an easy vehicle to miss.

Model X is bigger on the inside than on the outside, and I know that makes no sense at all.

Inside there are golden work boxes with every tool the technician will need and of course the spare parts he needs that day.

Tesla's inlay system allows for precise work on the entire inventory management thing, and the technicians set off with exactly the parts they need.

Eli the owner of the black LR was not in the direction of Tesla at all.

"Me? I'm a man of terrain, I've always had SUVs, including the last one - the Hummer", the Hummer ?!

I ask surprised, in the vehicle lexicon it appears as the opposite of Tesla, what happened?

"My wife bought a Tesla and I found myself riding it over and over until after a few times she got tired of it and she said to me - to me! Order yourself one and that's it."

So Eli ordered, from the hammer he is not separated yet, he is waiting for him in the parking lot, for the trip in the field there is still no electric replacement in Israel.

And again, while we're talking about Tesla's service man - Tal - he's already disassembled the top cover on the front of the Tesla to replace the battery and started shutting it back down - I do not think more than 10 minutes have passed.

On the way he connects with the computer to the car and runs a test to the system.

Then he asks again and again if he needs anything else, if he can help with anything else and if there are any questions.

His understanding, like that of the other service people I met, is that in the end,

It may have been 10 minutes and Tal the technician is already putting the business back together (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

And these encounters at the end are important, because with how much Tesla boasts of its end-to-end digital sales array, come on, a car is still a product that is neither cheap nor emotional.

And when it comes to Tesla, those emotions are also very much present.

And at the beginning of its period of operation, when the service and support system was still suffering from childhood diseases it was certainly reflected in the great frustration of the customers.

Mostly due to low spare parts availability, sometimes due to the change of switch to communicate via app or remote reading opening.

But for Tesla, it's just the way it works.

According to the company's data published here for the first time 90% of referrals or problems are resolved remotely by connecting the service center directly to the car, with a boot, or software update done at the click of a button.

Even in the next stage, when physical intervention is required and a technician is sent to the customer, they say 80% of the required repairs can be made.

So getting to the service centers is really saved as a last resort when the malfunction or treatment requires instrumentation or lifting of the car.

And this method works, it turns out,

What about the other parts?

So both from conversations with Tesla service executives and also in conversations with the brand's customers, there is a very big improvement in terms of telephone availability and efficiency in answering inquiries.

There is also a big improvement in the way the physical service center itself works in Petah Tikva.

But no one denies that there is room for improvement, and even a lot of room for improvement, especially when it comes to body repairs and the supply of body parts that customers often have to wait for weeks.

Tesla, which was not interested in dealing with this aspect of the service, left it in the hands of an outside company, from the impression that emerges from groups with different Tesla - quite a few Model 3 owners are very dissatisfied with the service they receive there.

The crews leave the service center with all the spare parts needed for home visits that day (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

And we skip to our third client, the direction is Petah Tikva and the technician Tal is already there with the Model X (some people would be happy to swap jobs with him just to drive this monster).

This time it's a shooter, he's a lawyer and moved to a Tesla from a Peugeot 3008 diesel. "Why a Tesla?" Forward to everything else. "But you know, I tell him, with all due respect to technology and introduction and all this huge screen - there are people for whom it's not all these effects." Of course I know, my dad is like that, you know what he's traveling for?

In Tesla.

So he does not take advantage of all its features, but even in its basic use the car is simple enough that anyone can get by with it. " Button on the screen,

Linking the regular card then the new one and it's over.

Definitely disappointing but Tal is already leaping to Model X on the way to the next customer.

According to Tesla, they handle about 30-40 visits by technicians a week, ie between 5-6 visits a day, which in a quick calculation over about 8,000 Teslaes that travel on the roads, this is definitely a good statistic, probably minus visits like the last one that are definitely under service and not a fault. .

Shoots and Tesla, does not return to gasoline even if they are distributed for free (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

To sum up this day is possible from both directions, that of the customers and the array of technicians, regarding the first if I was paranoid I would suspect that Tesla cooked all this business in advance - because there were two sentences that were repeated verbatim "After Tesla, I for gasoline do not want to return In life "-" even if they distribute free fuel "emphasizes shoots.

And the second sentence was that they had never experienced this kind of service in any other brand and that (also) what would leave them with Tesla later on, I explained to them that it might be better not to be so determined and wait to see what the rest of the car industry will answer Tesla - but there was no one to talk to .

In terms of the technical teams?

They mostly tell of customers who are happy that they do not have to burn a day in the garage for all the nonsense and that get to them wherever they want, usually very close or just at a time convenient to them, they should not even be there when they arrive.

But to tell the truth, at least from my impression of that day and conversations with other clients - they love being there.

It turns out that Tesla or not - from the days of carburetors of yesteryear to the tangle of cables and braids today - peeking over the shoulder of whoever takes care of your car is probably something that never changes with us.

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