Leading American electric automaker Tesla is looking to further innovate its electric vehicles by eliminating the need for its service. Tesla’s new job advertisement hints at its strategy to adhere to Chief Executive Elon Musk’s concept of “best service is no service.”
Tesla is in search of a Service Operations Manager
As per Tesla’s job listing on its official Linkedin page and website, the company is looking to hire a full-time Senior Manager for the Zero Service program based in Fremont, California.
“We are looking for a highly motivated Senior Manager to join our Service Operations organization and lead the team responsible to identify and eliminate the reasons for our cars to require service.”
Tesla
Tesla elaborated on the job description, stating that the Senior Manager role will be both strategic and tactical. It will focus on designing solutions and managing separate campaigns with the support of the program’s field teams and partners.
“The candidate will work closely with hardware and software engineering, service engineering, quality and service programs and field teams to prioritize, launch, and track demand reduction and efficiency efforts.”
Tesla
Notably, Tesla’s increasingly growing mobile service fleets support most of its service tasks. This innovative electric vehicle service model comes to customers rather than having owners come to service centres. As of Q4 2023, Tesla had a total of 1,909 mobile service vehicles.
Significance
Tesla’s lack of service centers has left owners waiting for repairs for several months. This has prompted other Tesla drivers to turn to legacy automakers like General Motors for faster repairs.
According to Car Scoops, some owners were so disappointed with Tesla’s service centers that they filed a (failed) lawsuit. They claimed that Tesla was “monopolizing the market for service parts and charging customers exorbitantly.”
Therefore, Tesla’s Zero Service program can significantly help the American electric automaker address owners’ concerns about its lack of service centers.
Feasibility of the Zero Service program
Tesla’s strategy to reduce the need for car service sounds good. However, others will undoubtedly find it unrealistic. EVs‘ simple motors would reduce drivetrain complexity, cutting much of the service traditional cars require.
However, this concept has not really succeeded in real-world application yet, as proven by Tesla. While it is true that EV systems are simpler than ICE-powered cars in theory, the driving realities are way more complex. Electric vehicles break down for all kinds of causes, requiring service centers to aid owners in fixing the problem.
That said, it would be interesting to see how Tesla can actually deliver an electric vehicle that will not require servicing in the future.
