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EX RedBull F1 guy is New chief of Global Service Training

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There is a quiet crisis in backlog at service centers. It's not good when you're scheduling six weeks out, which has been my experience and the experience reported by others. Improving the efficiency of service techs could shorten wait periods, reduce the need to hire and train new technicians, and reduce the need to expand service centers.
 
There is a quiet crisis in backlog at service centers. It's not good when you're scheduling six weeks out, which has been my experience and the experience reported by others. Improving the efficiency of service techs could shorten wait periods, reduce the need to hire and train new technicians, and reduce the need to expand service centers.
You're right - I was thinking about this too narrowly. I was thinking "service quality is great" - you are thinking "service clearly doesn't scale with their success". And yes, they definitely need more service centers and more capacity. Especially given they are planning to ship another 35000 cars this year, adding 50% to the installed base...
 
I'm sure this guy has loads of talent and is a great engineer and all that but... Are we aiming for F1 grade service here? I imagine driving in to the service center, stopping in front of a guy with a flag on stick, then 10 more techs appear, switch wheels, switch battery, change fluids and apply a bunch of TSBs. Then in 28.6 seconds you drive off.
 
Others have reported delays in service. I am surprised as I haven't had an issue at all with the service center in Milford, CT. I would suspect this is a busy one handling all of CT and some of NY.

In fact yesterday I swapped my winter tires back to the all season. After doing so, I had a error message indicating that my TPMS needed service. I called Tesla and was told they would contact Milford. (In the meantime I hit reset on the TPMS and all is well again.) I received a call from Milford at 9am Monday morning to ask about the issue. Simply fantastic.

BTW - the confirmed that if you swap tires with different rims, you need to reset the system.
 
I'm sure this guy has loads of talent and is a great engineer and all that but... Are we aiming for F1 grade service here? I imagine driving in to the service center, stopping in front of a guy with a flag on stick, then 10 more techs appear, switch wheels, switch battery, change fluids and apply a bunch of TSBs. Then in 28.6 seconds you drive off.
YES, that would be awesome. I'd pay extra.
 
I'm sure this guy has loads of talent and is a great engineer and all that but... Are we aiming for F1 grade service here? I imagine driving in to the service center, stopping in front of a guy with a flag on stick, then 10 more techs appear, switch wheels, switch battery, change fluids and apply a bunch of TSBs. Then in 28.6 seconds you drive off.
And you'll get a loaner for those 28.6 seconds, too!
 
Actually, being a close follower of F1 over the last 15 years or so, I think this is a great focus and a great source of talent. If you read Steve Matchett's books...


Life in the Fast Lane.
Publishing reference: Steve Matchett (1995). Life in the Fast Lane: The Story of the Benetton Grand Prix Year. ISBN 0-297-81610-1.
The Mechanic's Tale.
Publishing reference: Steve Matchett (1999). The Mechanic's Tale: Life in the Pit Lanes of Formula One. ISBN 0-7603-0754-7.
The Chariot Makers.
Publishing reference: Steve Matchett (2004). The Chariot Makers: Assembling the Perfect Formula 1 Car. ISBN 0-7528-5649-9.
...you will appreciate how the art of servicing F1 cars is not just about the 2.5 second pit stop, it is about the hours and hours of preparation and training for those few seconds. F1 requires not just extremely high quality, reliability, and performance, but operating with limited resources in a traveling circus and very tight deadlines. I think Mr. Handkammer's skills and experience will be very relevant!
 
Others have reported delays in service. I am surprised as I haven't had an issue at all with the service center in Milford, CT. I would suspect this is a busy one handling all of CT and some of NY.

In fact yesterday I swapped my winter tires back to the all season. After doing so, I had a error message indicating that my TPMS needed service. I called Tesla and was told they would contact Milford. (In the meantime I hit reset on the TPMS and all is well again.) I received a call from Milford at 9am Monday morning to ask about the issue. Simply fantastic.
It's my understanding that they prioritize "emergency" situations. It's the scheduled stuff (like "12500 mile service") that often takes weeks and weeks to schedule. Here in Portland it can be a month out, other SCs it's even worse.
 
There is a quiet crisis in backlog at service centers. It's not good when you're scheduling six weeks out, which has been my experience and the experience reported by others. Improving the efficiency of service techs could shorten wait periods, reduce the need to hire and train new technicians, and reduce the need to expand service centers.

Yes, I see what you're saying but disagree about improving the efficiency of service techs. That's what makes Tesla service so great. At least in theory, they are trained to go over your car with a fine toothed comb and identify additional problems. Case in point, the tech replaced one of my door handles last service because he noticed it wasn't presenting properly. This is not something I had advised them about.

Tesla shouldn't focus on running cars through their service centers as quickly as possible. That is the wrong approach. I didn't prepay $3800 to receive shoddy service. I do hope this is not the direction they are headed with this new hire.
 
Yes, I see what you're saying but disagree about improving the efficiency of service techs. That's what makes Tesla service so great. At least in theory, they are trained to go over your car with a fine toothed comb and identify additional problems. Case in point, the techs replaced one of my door handles last service because he noticed it wasn't presenting properly. This is not something I had advised them about.

Tesla shouldn't focus on running cars through their service centers as quickly as possible. That is the wrong approach. I didn't prepay $3800 to receive shoddy service. I do hope this is not the direction they are headed with this new hire.
Definitely not. I guess the trick is to provide exquisite service, faster...
 
It's my understanding that they prioritize "emergency" situations. It's the scheduled stuff (like "12500 mile service") that often takes weeks and weeks to schedule.

I guess this makes perfect sense. However, if it is scheduled, you'd think we wouldn't be in such a rush and would plan accordingly.

Actually, with Tesla having access to our logs and the ability to monitor our cars, you'd think they would simply schedule a placeholder and send a message OTA to our screens asking us to confirm a specific date and time for drop off.

I get a letter from my other car dealerships based upon average usage indicating time to schedule service. Tesla can do it in a much more accurate and personalize manner.
 
Awesome news and another reason Tesla will be far ahead of competitors. How would another manufacturer replicate this when they don't own their service centers?

And, let's remember the F1 teams excel at use of telematics, and Tesla has an expended amount of telematics data on fleet. All kinds of reasons this could result in highly differentiated services - not just reduction of appointment delays.
 
It's my understanding that they prioritize "emergency" situations. It's the scheduled stuff (like "12500 mile service") that often takes weeks and weeks to schedule. Here in Portland it can be a month out, other SCs it's even worse.
It seems that there is a wide variation in waiting times. I have needed service (non-emergency) at the Rocklin, CA service center twice and both times I was able to get a same day appointment... and the service was excellent.
 
It seems that there is a wide variation in waiting times. I have needed service (non-emergency) at the Rocklin, CA service center twice and both times I was able to get a same day appointment... and the service was excellent.
It seems to vary widely between different service centers and it also seems that the end of quarter rush both in late December and then again in late March made things worse.
 
Interesting! and why not, putting my fantasy to work: if your car is being handled by a crew of 4-5 persons at the same time, it can be ready to drive away before you finished the coffee while you wait. perhaps use a moving belt, to cover the different stages and a programmed autopilot test drive at the end at the servicecenter designated track. you could track down and approve the actual extra costs (if any) straight from your app. Could be something completely different from what we think of car service...