CARLSBAD — Auto giant Tesla has officially opened its doors to its newest showroom and service center in North County.
The electric vehicle manufacturer, founded by Elon Musk in 2003, opened its facility on Oct. 7 at 3248 Lionshead Avenue. The 55,000-square-foot facility includes the first dual showroom and service center and the fourth Tesla location in the county.
Tesla has also covered the region, state and country with its charging stations. Currently, there are more than 100 supercharging stalls, which are Tesla’s on-the-go fast-charging solution, in San Diego County which are part of more than 1,700 supercharger stalls across California, according to a statement from Tesla.
In addition, Tesla has installed destination chargers (stations at hotels, restaurants, etc.) across the county and 1,600 in California overall. Examples in Carlsbad include the St. Mark Golf Course, Lakehouse Hotel and the Four Seasons Aviara.
As for showrooms, the two prior facilities are located at UTC and Fashion Valley, while the other two service centers are in Miramar and Kearny Mesa. In North County, however, the company plans to add superchargers in Vista and Escondido, along with others in El Cajon, Chula Vista, San Ysidro and La Jolla, the statement said.
Luke Ervin, who is part of the Tesla owners club in San Diego, said the new showroom is a boon for North County. The club is independent of Tesla and about one-third of the 400 members reside in North County.
“There’s always been a good amount of Teslas on the road,” he said. “This definitely solves the North County need for a service center.”
And with the launch of Tesla’s Model 3 in 2017, the company has targeted a more affordable vehicle, which starts at $35,000. Through the third quarter of 2019, Tesla had sold 94,000 Model 3s, according to Forbes.
“We’re just glad and excited to know that Tesla is making more of a commitment to San Diego,” Ervin said.
During the June 25 City Council meeting, Angie Prowse, Tesla’s lead architectural manager in North America, said the showroom will consist of all Tesla models, although customers have the option of ordering their vehicles either on site or through the company’s website.
Delivery of the vehicles, though, will take place at the Carlsbad location. As for the city, she said the company has been attempting to break into Carlsbad for some time.
“Carlsbad is a very large market for us, and we’ve been trying to get into this city,” Prowse said. “We are extremely excited to open this location and serve our customers who are currently having to travel further distances to get their services.”
Tesla did look at potential spaces at Car Country, however, nothing fit the needs of the company. Car Country is an anchor for the city’s sales taxes and a popular destination among many throughout the county.
“The spaces that were available at the time we were performing our real estate search did not align with our needs,” Prowse said. “The property we are leasing out is in line with what we are hoping to move forward with and not extremely different from any other location around the globe.”
