Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Tesla opens sales, service, delivery center at Nambe Falls Travel Center | Local News

Wink, wink: New Mexico now has a Tesla sales, service and delivery center for its electric cars – even though state law prohibits automakers from selling directly to customers.

The outlet, which will soon be in the new Tesla Center in the Nambe Falls Travel Center in a former casino on US 84/285, reflects every purpose of a car dealership. You can buy a vehicle, drive it home and have it serviced.

The announcement, made on Thursday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by U.S. sensors Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, was hailed as the first of its kind between the company and a sovereign indigenous entity – a fact the Nambe Pueblo Gov has not escaped. Philipp Perez. “It was a collaboration between Tesla and the Pueblo,” said Perez, who added that the negotiations took place about a year ago. “It didn’t take long to come to terms.

“We are doing our part to protect Mother Earth,” he said. “We are proud to be the first tribe to have Tesla on Indian land. It’s really great that we can pave the way to New Mexico with renewable energies. “

Tesla does not sell its sales, service, and delivery centers as company-owned dealers. But Nambe Pueblo is not bound by government restrictions on Tesla’s sales and service presence.

The Tesla Center is located near the Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder Casino and Resort in the Nambe Pueblo land, which was sourced from neighboring Pojoaque Pueblo along the highway. After years of planning, the small Nambe Falls Casino opened next to a gas station and a convenience store, the Pueblo, in February 2016. While the travel center continued to operate, the short-lived casino business closed in September 2017.

Tesla only has 65 sales and service centers in 24 states, according to the company’s website. Ten states, including New Mexico and Texas, prohibit direct selling and others limit the number of stores.

New Mexico has 1,846 registered Teslas, 361 of them in Santa Fe County, according to the New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Department. The first Tesla arrived in New Mexico in 2012.

“Everything changes for owners,” said Brian Dear, founder and president of the Tesla Owners Club of New Mexico, which he founded in 2015 to bring a Tesla sales, service and delivery center to New Mexico.

“It will help improve sales of electric vehicles,” Dear said. “People can take test drives, this has never happened here before. It’s a gigantic thing for New Mexico. It is such an important milestone. “

Previously, local Tesla owners had to bring their car to Colorado Springs, Colorado; El Paso; or Arizona for service, or have Tesla send a technician to your home. Cars had to be either delivered to a buyer or picked up outside of the state.

“The comparison so far is to get your car repaired, you had to think of hotel reservations and possibly a stay of several days,” said Dear. “You didn’t get a reservation for Thursday or Friday because they might not get to your car and you would have to stay until next week.”

Santa Fe residents Melanie and Josh Vigil had to take their Tesla Model Y Performance to El Paso when it broke down because the company requested that it be taken to the nearest repair shop.

“It’s just convenient,” she said, to have a service center nearby.

The Tesla Center has two service bays, a washing area and a “gallery” with a single car. Potential buyers can “show” a vehicle. There is no dedicated sales office, but sales can be done on site.

Most Teslas are sold online.

Luján, who grew up in the area, praised the move.

“I was honored to grow up with [pueblo] Members who made this possible, ”said Luján. “That happens when great minds come together.”

While electric vehicles are gaining a foothold in the United States, Heinrich has urged the Senate to finance an infrastructure package to build charging stations for electric cars, especially in underserved states.

“That is a really positive development,” said Heinrich.

In 2019, Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, Albuquerque, D-sponsored the so-called Tesla Bill, which would have allowed automakers without a franchise to sell and service their vehicles in New Mexico.

Ortiz y Pino said the state’s auto dealers were “absolutely against” the legislation. Since automakers in New Mexico can only sell their cars through franchises, dealerships have become incredibly valuable, he said.

“These are licenses to print money,” he said. “If you have the Ford dealership in Santa Fe or Albuquerque or Las Cruces, you are guaranteed to live well because [customers] must come to you; there is nowhere else to go. It’s not exactly a monopoly because there could be two dealers in a community, but they are limiting the franchise so that they can have highly profitable relationships with their franchisors. “

Tesla’s sales model, which eliminates franchises, has caused concern among traditional retailers, said Ortiz y Pino, whose bill did not come off the committee.

“The local dealerships weren’t interested in Tesla coming in because they don’t make a lot of money selling cars,” Ortiz y Pino said. “They make their money with the guaranteed guarantees and the service that must be provided by them. Here comes the dealership’s true profitability. “

Ortiz y Pino said he was happy to hear that by partnering with a sovereign pueblo, Tesla found a way to do business in New Mexico. “That’s a smart idea,” he said. “I think they found a way around that.”

Correction: This story has been changed to reflect the following correction. An earlier version of this story had the wrong date when Brian Dear founded the Tesla Owners Club of New Mexico. The association was founded in 2015.

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