Until now, the owner of one of the Tesla models, in the case of needing to go to the workshop for an item that an independent mechanic cannot repair, was forced to go to one of the few technical services available. A situation that, in many cases, involves traveling hundreds of miles. But now, the European Commission has confirmed a ruling where it will force the manufacturer to open its platforms to workshops outside its network.
The origin of the sentence is in a complaint filed in June 2020 by the Central Association of the German Motor Vehicle Industry (ZDK), which indicated that although Tesla gave access to the platform, its rates were disproportionate, making it unaffordable to offer the service to customers.
Those workshops that want to repair a Tesla have to pay a cost of 125 euros per hour to use diagnostic and programming software and 30 euros per hour for maintenance information. To these figures should be added the costs of these workshops, which triggers the customer’s final price.
According to the ZDK, these rates violate the discrimination clause established in the “Homologation Regulation (EU) 2018/858,” which results in independent mechanics not be able to offer their customers services comparable to those offered by Tesla itself.
Something that should allow more spaces to offer their repair and maintenance services for Tesla vehicles, an aspect that will undoubtedly benefit users, both those located far from Technical Services, as well as those who live in an area with more density where the competition will be increased to offer a better service.