Tesla Opens Largest Customer Experience Center in India
Tesla motors made its debut in India back in July this year. Post that, Tesla has launched two dealerships – one in Mumbai and one in Aerocity, Delhi. Now, Tesla has moved forward with its India plans and has launched another customer experience center in Gurugram, Haryana. The new Tesla customer experience centre comes not only as a dealership but also as a full end-to-end experience where customers can not only experience their vehicles, they can also understand more about Tesla vehicles and other technologies and how it will impact their lifestyle.
During the launch presentation, Tesla also laid out the brand’s larger mission and plans for the Indian market, where Tesla not only plans to sell cars, but also help boost the EV and charging infrastructure. So in this article, I will tell you how my experience at the Tesla Experience Center in Gurgaon went, and what Tesla is up to in the country, and what the future plans are.
My Experience at the Tesla Experience Center in Gurugram
So the Tesla Customer Experience Center is what Tesla envisions car dealerships to be. It has three areas – the general area where we have the Tesla Model Y and the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot on display. Apart from that, there is also Tesla’s V4 Supercharger and the home chargers on display for users to experience and learn more about their electric car’s charging and battery behaviour.
Should you choose to buy one, the general area is where you will walk in to experience your Tesla car, but won’t be able to book one. Yes, Tesla is not taking any offline bookings for the Model Y in India and all the car bookings are done online. This showcase is for people to experience the car before booking it. Currently, Tesla has only launched the Model Y in India, which is the company’s highest selling car until now.
Right next to the experience area is the delivery area, which is a lounge where customers come to pick up their brand new Tesla cars. Here, Tesla also debriefs customers about the company’s history, their mission, and how Tesla cars are more of a lifestyle product rather than a mode of commute.
The third part of the Tesla Customer Experience Center is the service area, where Tesla services the cars. Here, the company has a massive garage, but it works with minimal human intervention. When the cars are services, most of the work done on the cars is over the air, meaning that many things are fixed via software, reducing the need of humans working on your car. Tesla also plans to bring in robots to help service and repair cars in the longer run.
Tesla’s Grand Plan For India
So Tesla started its journey after years of tussle earlier this year in July with the first experience center in Mumbai. After that, the company launched one in Aerocity, New Delhi, and now this one in Gurugram, Haryana. The Tesla Customer Experience Center located in Gurugram is the biggest and the first in the NCR region. During the presentation, Tesla also told us what the brand’s vision and mission for India is. The brand not only plans to sell cars in India, but also enhance the charging infrastructure across the country.
As part of the infrastructure support, Tesla is also setting up its V4 Superchargers, where the brand has already commissioned chargers in BKC, Mumbai, Aerocity, New Delhi, and the last one now in Gurugram, Haryana. Further, Tesla announced that it is setting up more chargers – one in Gurgaon, and two in Mumbai – one in South Mumbai and one in Navi Mumbai. Apart from this, to kick start the charging infrastructure, Tesla is offering a free fast charger for home to the first batch of Tesla Model Y buyers.
Tesla Model Y – What You Get For This 60 Lakh EV
The Tesla Model Y is the first car that Tesla brought to India. The Model Y is Tesla’s best-selling car in the world and comes with two battery pack options – a 64kWh battery for the normal variant and an 84.2kWh battery pack with the Long Range variant. These battery packs power a 220kW electric motor which makes 295 bhp of power and 420Nm of torque, propelling the Tesla Model Y from 0 to 100 kmph in just 3.5 seconds!
The 64kWh battery, which is available in the normal variant offers a range of up to 500 kilometers, while the 84.2kWh battery variant or the Long Range variant can put out up to 660 kilometers of range on a single charge. The power and torque figures for both the battery packs remain the same.
Apart from the range and performance, the Tesla Model Y is loaded with features. In fact the features on this car are so cool that there are things that no other cars can do. Some of the most unique features are the 15.4-inch display in the car which is not only an infotainment display, it is the control center for the car. You can control each and everything ranging from the doors, to the lights, to the stereo, to the charging port, to music, to air conditioning – each and every feature and function of this car is accessible from this display.
Apart from this, we are getting a fully glass roof on the Model Y, along with seat ventilation and electronically adjustable front seats. There is also ADAS Level 2, but the Tesla autonomous driving is not available in India. There is, however, the auto-park feature to which, we also got a demo and it worked absolutely perfectly. Furthermore, there is also a secondary display for the rear passengers, which not only gives controls to the rear passengers, but they can also play games on this display.
