Tesla has officially opened its newest Sales, Service, and Delivery Center in Canada, and the first on Vancouver Island. On Thursday the company held a grand opening party for Tesla Langford, located just outside of Victoria, British Columbia, marking the launch of Tesla’s first purpose-built facility in Canada.
Tesla has a strong presence in Canada, with nearly two dozen showrooms and Service Centers across the country. However all of these were previously occupied by other tenants, meaning Tesla had to make alterations and complete renovations on these buildings to suit them to their needs. Now Tesla has been able to put what they have learned from all of those locations into a brand new facility built from the ground up.
Drive Tesla was invited out to the VIP grand opening party, which was attended by Tesla Canada Director Fereshteh Zeineddin and Western Canada Regional Manager Christopher Bishop, as well as Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson and past-president of the Victoria Electric Vehicle Association David Grove, all of whom were on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the special occasion.
We got a behind the scenes look at the new 35,000 square foot facility. At the front of the building is the showroom, but unlike traditional dealerships, there is only space to display three cars. On opening day there was a Model X Plaid parked inside, with the typical red and white desks nearby where customers can order their cars online. There is also a customer lounge, conference room, offices, and a breakroom for employees.
The real magic is at the rear of the facility, where there is an expansive 31,000 square foot service area. It may look a little sparse now, but Tesla will undoubtedly grow into the space as Victoria is one the world leaders in terms of EV adoption with 25% of new cars in the area being zero emission. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos or videos during our tour, but the service area features six vehicle hoists, with
enough space to add eleven more in the future. What is most important about this new facility is that it can handle any type of repair, from small issues to complete replacement of the high-voltage battery, meaning Tesla owners on Vancouver Island will no longer have to make the trek over to Vancouver for major repairs.
It was also explained to us that the Mobile Service Rangers will continue their work on the island, and that any “mobile-capable” repair will still be completed at your house or preferred location.
On the northern side of the building there is an interior wash bay, as well as 5 designated spots for pre-delivery inspections, before cars enter the dedicated delivery bay next to the showroom.
As we first revealed last year, Tesla Langford also features four V3 Superchargers, but unfortunately these are reserved for internal use only. There are however a total of nine Destination Chargers at the front and rear of the building that are available for public use.
Here are some more photos from the grand opening party.
