Tesla’s Q4 earnings report contains a number of smaller, yet still significant, mentions about other parts of their business. One such mention was about its Mobile Service fleet, which has seen rapid expansion over 2019.
Many will remember the almost continuous cycle of reading about owners receiving poor after-purchase service from Tesla. To help address that, Tesla grew its Mobile Service fleet to 743 vehicles, nearly doubling in size from the previous year.
“Our Mobile Service fleet almost doubled in 2019 to 743 vehicles, and we continue to open new service locations globally. As customers are increasingly buying their Tesla vehicles online, vehicle deliveries grew 50% while our retail footprint remained unchanged with a stable total store count across 2019.“
Tesla sales have soared, with the automaker delivering more cars in 2019 than the previous two years combined. With that, comes a new demand for service, which Tesla admittedly has struggled to keep pace with.
In come Mobile Service rangers, who travel to Tesla owners homes or workplace to complete uncomplicated repairs that don’t require the need for speciality equipment, saving owners from a service centre visit.
This allows Tesla to save money by not having to acquire new or expand existing service centres, which comes with many extra long-term costs. Simply add a new Mobile Service vehicle, hire a new Mobile Ranger, and you’ve just expanded your service division. Much cheaper and quicker than expansion or acquisition of new retail space.
But that doesn’t mean Tesla ignored the brick-and-mortar service centres and retail space. In 2019, store and service locations were up 13% year over year, and up 4% between Q3 and Q4.
You can read the full earnings report here.
