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Alaska service?

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[Moderator Note: moved from this thread: Hawaii Tesla Owners ]

I put down a deposit on one and I live in Alaska. I have no idea if there are any other Alaska owners. I have sent emails to Tesla to see if I could be trained as a Ranger to at least do the one year 12000 mile service. To date nothing. It would be around 4000.00 dollars U.S. to have a ranger come up there to do what for service I do not know. I am very mechanical and a licensed aircraft mechanic so do believe I have the skills to learn to service a Tesla. I was told that to be a service person you had to have ASE certifications A1-A8. Several of those pertain to ICE vehicles which will be useless in servicing anEV. I think they will have to come up with a new set of standards for technicians for EV's. All the areas that do apply such as electrical, hydralics such as brakes, electronics, etc are covered in way greater detail at airframe and powerplant mechanic schools. I think they are overlooking a huge trainable market if they just stick with current ASE certified mechanics as one of the criteria for hiring service techs.
 
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Long distance service options

Yes TEK I realize this is a Hawaii thread. It is also part of the Pacific Northwest thread. I agree with Dublin. There needs to be a way to service the long distance customers, no matter where they live. I offered to be trained by Tesla specifically for Alaskan customers until they can get high enough numbers to establish a service center up here. Rik Avalos is the lead recruiter. He so far has not been encouraging since all my training and work has been on aircraft not ICE vehicles. I do not have the required A1-A8 ASE certifications. I did look at the ASE site and also their sample tests. Most of it is very basic. Four of the eight certifications are ICE related and would have no relevence to EV vehicles. The rest, aircraft mechanics are trained in greater detail about during their 1900 hours of training before taking written, oral and practical tests. Much higher standards.

I also have been in email contact with Walter Franck. He did allude to me that Tesla was going to be coming up with a service plan for long distance customers. Since the first 12000 mile and or one year check is under waranty, I would assume they would send someone to do it as part of the purchase price of the vehicle unless they make you go to a service center or pay for a Ranger. If it is just minor servicing and, they can do most diagnostics remotely, I would think they could have someone trained to do at least the minor servicing that lives close by such as in Hawaii or Alaska.

If it is to just be a Ranger call out, I may have to reconsider buying the car since it would be approximately 8 percent of the purchase price for a ranger visit. Hard to justify when I will probably put 8000 miles or so on the car the first year. I really hope they come out with some kind of plan for those of us that are long distances from a service center or a ranger. I did ask how many vehicles in an area would justify having a service center but got no reply to that question. Maybe someone else would know.
 
... they may set up a third party service arrangement with a local auto shop or car dealer.

ddruz that is encouraging news. IF they would have a third party agreement with a local shop in Alaska I would not hesitate to keep my order in. Who would you contact at Tesla about that possibility? I really think I can do most all minor servicing myself. I can probably with guidance or a manual do the major stuff too. None of it is rocket science. I have a large hangar with a lot of tools and equipment and am quite capable of working on cars as well as aircraft. I would be the third party if they would consider that possibility. Up here we have a lot of people who commute from the Mat Su valley to Anchorage everyday...like last I heard 40000 cars a day. It is a commute of around 50 miles each way so the 160 mile version would be perfect.

If you can give me someone to contact about this I would appreciate it
 
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Ultrarunner, I got the information on the possibility of a third party providing service a few months ago from someone at Tesla I had sent an email to. I cannot remember who. I was told they were exploring the third party idea at that time. However, the third party indicated was an already established car dealer or car repair shop, not an individual. I have not heard anything else since then and cannot say how seriously they have pursued the idea. It certainly makes sense as a way for Tesla to sell to more distant places. They have partnerships with Toyota and Daimler already so my personal hypothesis is that either of those would be the likely partners for a third party service arrangement if details could be worked out. Note that this is only my personal supposition. I have nothing whatsoever from Tesla to back it up.

Instead of idly speculating or spreading unfounded rumors it's probably best to just see what happens after launch in July as they begin looking forward to the wider market after the time the initial enthusiasts are all sold to. We can post here anything concrete we learn in the meantime. It makes sense, however, to hold your reservation. After all, reservations made around now won't be coming up for about a year anyway and then there is the option for a one-time deferral. Lots can happen in that time. I'd rather not wait a year for a service arrangement to be finalized then wait another year in line for the car.
 
Ultrarunner, Though this is a Hawaii thread it seems to have morphed into a far-from-service thread so I'd like to offer one final point about Alaska. I lived in Fairbanks for 9 years and spent some time around Anchorage as well. I know how cold it can get. May I suggest that the 60 kwh battery pack might be a better consideration for your 100 mile daily commute. The heater is going to take a very, very large hit on the mileage per charge. I currently drive a Leaf and can attest to the fact the climate control is the biggest drain on the battery in addition to speeds over 55. The heater on the Leaf is a bigger drain than the AC too. With the subzero temperatures in AK I honestly think you need to figure on only 60 to 70% max nominal mileage per charge to be conservative. Then remember the battery will slowly degrade over time. Some of the senior forum members estimate 70% of initial capacity at 8 years. If you plan to own the car any length of time the 60 kwh battery might be your best bet. I'm even considering it for Hawaii since I plan to own the car a long time and we don't know how much the battery will degrade over time.
 
ddruz, Thanks for that information. Based on the 70 percent then yes, I should most likely get the 60 kw battery. The person who was talking to me about the car in the store was also going to buy one and said she and her husband were hoping for a better and less expensive battery in the next 5-7 years so hopefully could live with the smaller battery. I too plan to keep the car for a very long time. This is really stepping out of the comfort zone from a financial point of view. The mid size battery does make more sense though.

Sorry for butting into the Hawaii thread but, there have been no responses in the Alaska threads or even any long distance threads. I did just get another email today from Tesla and they are discussing the long distance customers and how best to resolve it. The person who emailed me, Walter Franck, said until the service guide was published he could offer no other information. I would think that with the first S models rolling out soon they will hopefully have the service guide soon or shortly thereafter. Yes I will for sure hold on to my position as I got in line in early February so am probably looking at first quarter next year at the earliest.
 
Sorry but don't know where else to post this to get Alaska exposure... Yesterday, Sunday 7/7/13, I get off the Celebrity Solstice in Ketchikan, walk 3 minutes to the main drag, and drives by a light tan or grey Model S! C'mon... in Alaska? Wow!!! Awesome! Tried flagging you (whoever "you" are) down but failed :-(