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Tesla ends free lifetime Supercharger access, moves collision repairs in-house

The company is launching a new referral program and wants to reduce collision repair times

Tesla Model 3 car

Tesla is taking control of its collision service and altering its lifetime Supercharger access program as it tries out some new ideas.

The EV maker is always tweaking operations to increase efficiency and profitability.

The company is moving its collision repair services in-house in an attempt to reduce the amount of time it takes to get a car back on the road. According to Engadget, it’s normal for some Tesla owners to have to wait a few weeks to a month to get their vehicle repaired after a crash.

The company claims that since it’s more familiar with its lineup and has spare parts on hand, it can complete repairs faster than a third-party mechanic.

Tesla has been building more service centres to try and keep up with the volume of cars that it’s outputting. In Canada, there are seven Tesla service centres spread across Alberta, B.C., Ontario and Quebec.

In addition to the service centre change, the company is also ending unlimited Supercharger access. The company had initially planned to end the unlimited access program at the start of 2017. It has been slowly winding it down since then.

Until now, perspective Tesla buyers who ordered a car with a referral code from another owner were still able to get free Supercharging for life.

The referral program ended on September 16th. It’s being replaced by a program that offers $150 CAD charging credit and a few other perks instead. 

There’s a chance that the free Supercharging promotion makes it back someday, but for now, future owners won’t be able to bank on unlimited power from Tesla.

The company is doing all it can to make its customers happy while cutting cost and selling more cars. Even with all of its strategic planning and modern manufacturing it still runs into the same problems as everyone else.

Reuters reports that a fire at the company’s Nevada Gigafactory on Saturday night caused workers to evacuate and suspend production. No injuries were reported, and work resumed on Sunday morning. The fire took place inside the cooling tube oven on the factory’s third floor. Tesla says it’s investigating the issue.

Source: Engadget, Reuters

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