Tesla Service Center - Dedham, MA

[David29]

I had the pleasure of volunteering to help in June on several quarter-end delivery days. Goal was 60 cars into customer hands per day. Cars would come in from the offsite logistics lot and onto the supercharger to charge up to 80%+ for delivery. Add to this owners swinging through to do routine charging and... superchargers full all day long. Even if the 8 V2's were explicitly closed for public use they would still be overutilized during peak delivery periods. Tesla needs more supercharging for deliveries, preferably V3's without V2 stall pairing/load sharing. Doing overnight pre-charging of cars being delivered the next day would also help, although the charge and deliver cadence actually worked quite well overall.

Interesting! I did not know that Tesla was still using volunteers to help with peak delivery times! Good for you! Since I live in Dedham, maybe I should do that as well....
And as a coincidence, today I stumbled across what is apparently the off-site logistics lot. I have known where at least two previous locations were, and this is the furthest away their remote lot has been, so far as I know. (But I claim no special knowledge, just random accidental discoveries.) I wonder if the used cars are there, as well?

 

[Farmer]

Interesting! I did not know that Tesla was still using volunteers to help with peak delivery times! Good for you! Since I live in Dedham, maybe I should do that as well....
And as a coincidence, today I stumbled across what is apparently the off-site logistics lot. I have known where at least two previous locations were, and this is the furthest away their remote lot has been, so far as I know. (But I claim no special knowledge, just random accidental discoveries.) I wonder if the used cars are there, as well?

I scouted around for the lot (and found it) after seeing endless Teslas headed north on Rt. 1 with registration plates hanging out the back trunk in dealer bags. Living in Walpole helped, heh.

The do have a lot of cars there.

 

[Farmer]

I had the pleasure of volunteering to help in June on several quarter-end delivery days. Goal was 60 cars into customer hands per day. Cars would come in from the offsite logistics lot and onto the supercharger to charge up to 80%+ for delivery. Add to this owners swinging through to do routine charging and... superchargers full all day long. Even if the 8 V2's were explicitly closed for public use they would still be overutilized during peak delivery periods. Tesla needs more supercharging for deliveries, preferably V3's without V2 stall pairing/load sharing. Doing overnight pre-charging of cars being delivered the next day would also help, although the charge and deliver cadence actually worked quite well overall.

Interesting indeed! Where do they do the "dealer" pre-delivery checks and prep? There must be more than shuttling cars up from the Walpole lot, Supercharging, and delivering?
As for busy Superchargers, at delivery this past August, my MY was sitting charged at one of the SC stalls and tying it up for about an hour while my paperwork was finished, plates transferred, and so on. I guess when the car is still on the books with Tesla, idle fees don't apply. I had already concluded my inspection (while the Y was at the SC), but it wasn't mine yet to move, so it sat there. It was fully charged up to the (then 90%) charge limit, so I don't know how long it had been there prior to my (on time) arrival.
I live in Walpole with a home charger so I haven't yet needed to supercharge in the area, but if I ever do, I'll probably pick Canton, Mansfield, or Franklin as it seems the present Rt. 1 site simply can't afford a visit from me. The newer Rt. 1 site past the mall will be open, but I loathe reversing direction at the Rt. 109/VFW traffic light, so I wouldn't be down there much. (Or I think I can sneak back through the mall parking lots to Washington St. I suppose.)

 

[canbonbon]

Interesting! I did not know that Tesla was still using volunteers to help with peak delivery times! Good for you! Since I live in Dedham, maybe I should do that as well....
And as a coincidence, today I stumbled across what is apparently the off-site logistics lot. I have known where at least two previous locations were, and this is the furthest away their remote lot has been, so far as I know. (But I claim no special knowledge, just random accidental discoveries.) I wonder if the used cars are there, as well?

To each his own but I would *NEVER* volunteer for a $700 billion company. They have enough money to hire employees (or Temp workers) and shouldn't be relying on volunteers to give their free time. I love Tesla car and the brand but don't appreciate greediness of a large corporation. Still puzzles me why they cannot hire temp workers to do the same thing that the volunteers are doing? If I had the free time to volunteer, I would rather do it for a homeless shelter or a pet rescue organization where they actually need people instead of making the richest man in the world even more richer by doing free work for him. Nah, not happening.

 

[David29]

I had the pleasure of volunteering to help in June on several quarter-end delivery days. Goal was 60 cars into customer hands per day. Cars would come in from the offsite logistics lot and onto the supercharger to charge up to 80%+ for delivery. Add to this owners swinging through to do routine charging and... superchargers full all day long. Even if the 8 V2's were explicitly closed for public use they would still be overutilized during peak delivery periods. Tesla needs more supercharging for deliveries, preferably V3's without V2 stall pairing/load sharing. Doing overnight pre-charging of cars being delivered the next day would also help, although the charge and deliver cadence actually worked quite well overall.

This project came before the Design Review Advisory Board this evening. Lots of discussion about signage, and in particular making the signage more obvious this is the service center to help direct customers into this location vs. the next door existing location. The presenter didn't appear to be aware Tesla was already next door. All comments were advisory to the developer - recommendations only.

Sounded like this project would need require zoning board approval, but might not not require going before the planning board.

I do not see the service center project on the agenda for the next Planning Board meeting on November 8, although the Supercharger project is on the agenda. The next ZBA meeting is November 15 but no agenda has been posted yet.

 

[kayak1]

To each his own but I would *NEVER* volunteer for a $700 billion company. They have enough money to hire employees (or Temp workers) and shouldn't be relying on volunteers to give their free time. I love Tesla car and the brand but don't appreciate greediness of a large corporation. Still puzzles me why they cannot hire temp workers to do the same thing that the volunteers are doing? If I had the free time to volunteer, I would rather do it for a homeless shelter or a pet rescue organization where they actually need people instead of making the richest man in the world even more richer by doing free work for him. Nah, not happening.

You should check with your local fire department. We are also looking for help.

 

[canbonbon]

You should check with your local fire department. We are also looking for help.

I was just giving some examples but the point was that yes there are a lot of other volunteer opportunities where I would love to *donate* my free time (maybe even donate my money). Although from I recall, Fire department requires at least undergoing complete basic fire & EMS training. Plus there is some insurance nonsense you have to deal with. Towns usually don't pay for insurance. Let me know if you are successfully doing it and how are you managing that. I thought of that many years ago but gave up after those conditions. But things might have changed.

 

[Tdreamer]

Interesting indeed! Where do they do the "dealer" pre-delivery checks and prep? There must be more than shuttling cars up from the Walpole lot, Supercharging, and delivering?

Not sure about the pre-delivery prep work but I suspect during busy delivery windows Tesla may outsource some of that to one or more local detailing shops from what I was seeing when I was there (not certain, but it seemed to be the case). Charging would all be done at the Dedham location presumably - I doubt they'd go to other superchargers in the area.

As for busy Superchargers, at delivery this past August, my MY was sitting charged at one of the SC stalls and tying it up for about an hour while my paperwork was finished, plates transferred, and so on. I guess when the car is still on the books with Tesla, idle fees don't apply. I had already concluded my inspection (while the Y was at the SC), but it wasn't mine yet to move, so it sat there. It was fully charged up to the (then 90%) charge limit, so I don't know how long it had been there prior to my (on time) arrival.

That fits with what I saw too. Tesla employees would cycle the cars onto the superchargers in between everything else being done. Part of the challenge during quarter end (not sure about the rest of the time) is that they end up stacking cars up two-deep by the delivery bay as they bring them in from off-site or have finished charging. There is just not enough room at the current Dedham location to handle the peak delivery periods cleanly.

 

[Tdreamer]

I do not see the service center project on the agenda for the next Planning Board meeting on November 8, although the Supercharger project is on the agenda. The next ZBA meeting is November 15 but no agenda has been posted yet.

The service center project just came before the DRAB the other day for the first time so it's possible it could be a bit before they return for zoning approval.

And the supercharger project will be getting final approval at the upcoming meeting - I believe likely a formality at this point.

 

[Tdreamer]

To each his own but I would *NEVER* volunteer for a $700 billion company. They have enough money to hire employees (or Temp workers) and shouldn't be relying on volunteers to give their free time. I love Tesla car and the brand but don't appreciate greediness of a large corporation. Still puzzles me why they cannot hire temp workers to do the same thing that the volunteers are doing? If I had the free time to volunteer, I would rather do it for a homeless shelter or a pet rescue organization where they actually need people instead of making the richest man in the world even more richer by doing free work for him. Nah, not happening.

I don't disagree with your point. While Tesla could use more generalized help during peak delivery windows for logistics and if possible speeding up the registration process which seems to be the bottleneck most of the time, the volunteer support I provided was specifically providing one-on-one Q&A time for new owners, almost exclusively first time Tesla owners. For some it was 10-15 minutes of basic assistance. For a few others it was up to an hour of time helping them get used the basics. While paid temp help could be applied here, it would likely need to be in the form of seasoned Tesla employees or existing owners paid for their time - someone who knows the car features and how to use them.

As to the state of volunteer assistance program... there isn't really one at the moment. A Facebook post earlier this year by a member of the regional Tesla management team asked if anyone would be interested in volunteering - an attempt to connect with Tesla Owners Club members in the area. I'm not sure how many responses they got - I know of at least one other that responded as I did. I also know that I was the only one to connect with Dedham to help out, and that the help was very much appreciated the three days I was there. I was unable to help in Q3 due many weekend commitments in September, but hope to help out in December. For those interested in helping out, this is a good opportunity to help improve the delivery experience for new Tesla owners.

 

[kayak1]

I was just giving some examples but the point was that yes there are a lot of other volunteer opportunities where I would love to *donate* my free time (maybe even donate my money). Although from I recall, Fire department requires at least undergoing complete basic fire & EMS training. Plus there is some insurance nonsense you have to deal with. Towns usually don't pay for insurance. Let me know if you are successfully doing it and how are you managing that. I thought of that many years ago but gave up after those conditions. But things might have changed.

In Boston, you are looking at a paid department, thus it won't be the same.

In most towns in Maine, when you are at the station or on a call, you are insured. Check with the department.

We have people who don't have a fire basic cert and are great contributors to the department. We have people trained on how to direct traffic and others that can drive trucks and run the pump. Others will get food or drinks (paid for by the department) when we have a longer-duration incident, such as a brush fire. You can serve on the fire department board of directors (if your FD is a 501(c)3). You can help with accounting, truck checks, etc. If you are a ham, you might help with radios, some departments have dedicated radio teams (they set up repeaters and fix communication issues for incidents).

Ask around when the local department meets and then talk with the Chief to see what help they need.

Our department is always glad to have help and provide the training if you are willing to help out.

If the Fire department isn't your thing check with your EMA officials, our county is always looking for volunteers.

 

[Tdreamer]

So, crickets on the previous plans for an expansion behind the current location found earlier this year. Today, the address 820 Providence Highway showed up on the agenda for this week's Design Review Board meeting (along with a review of the proposed new supercharger down the street). This is the former Bed Bath and Beyond adjacent to the current Tesla site. Nice call @Fiver.

This preliminary design shows a possible connection between this property and the existing Tesla site where the existing superchargers are. This might be an early indicator that the eight existing V2 supercharger's days are numbered....

View attachment 986600

View attachment 986601

So, the conversion of 820 Providence Highway to be the new Tesla Service Center is before the Dedham Planning Board this evening, 3/27/24. The meeting is not being live streamed the way it frequently has been - but presumably there could be a recording and/or minutes available in the days ahead. The agenda shows this presentation includes a public hearing, which if things go smoothly could lead to a PB vote and approval of the project. There is still a related separate review and approval process underway for restructuring the property and parking options available behind the existing Tesla service center and showroom that is related to this project.

The project seems to be heading in the right direction, and it seems quite likely this project moving forward is the likely reason why the proposed Woburn facility was withdrawn recently.

Here is an interior concept floor plan that is part of tonight's planning board materials:

 

[Tdreamer]

Recording of the meeting was published this afternoon. I've not watched the entire proceedings, however the conclusion was that project has been approved, subject to typical conditions and paperwork. Tesla will be moving service to 820 Providence Highway!

NOTE: A separate approval is presumably still in the works for reconfiguring the parking behind the existing sales and service center.

 

[Tdreamer]

Oh... one more thing as I watched the recording - the council presenting the plan to the board stated that Tesla wanted to install "up to ten charging stations", tentatively along the front side of the building right near the existing v2 charging stations next door. There was nothing said about the future status of the existing superchargers, but there was a comment about them known to be busy most of the time for service & delivery charging today. I don't think there was any specific description of them being superchargers or level-2, but I suspect they may be superchargers. There is nothing showing in the current plans on this, so we'll see what develops over time.

 

[petercc9]

Street view

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[petercc9]

tentatively along the front side of the building right near the existing v2 charging stations next door.

Good..because it is completely useless to try and get a spot at those superchargers at the dealer since parking is TERRIBLE and people taking test drives end up parking in them.

 

[David29]

I am glad that Tesla is finally expanding their Dedham facilities. The site was always a bit small anyway (in my opinion), and as the volume of cars increased over the years, it became difficult at times. It would be interesting to go back to 2015 when the Dedham facility was opened to see what the company told the Town about the number of cars they would have on the site. Seems to me that their predicted space needs were always on the low side (I was at the hearing back then and was skeptical even then).

One detail on the drawing caught my eye and surprised me -- a reference to "collision repair circulation." Since there is a large tesla body shop only a couple miles away in the Readville section of Hyde Park, I wonder why they would do collision repair here. Maybe just minor things?