By STEELE HAUGEN
CENTRAL OREGON DAILY NEWS
Bend couple Richard and Linda Ingle love owning their two Teslas.
They’re fun to drive, they lower pollution…But getting them serviced?
That’s another story.
“If something were to go radically wrong, having to take it over to Portland is not a good deal,” Richard said. “Driving it or even having it towed a few miles to a service center here would be a game-changer.”
Plans and permits filed with the city of Bend show a Tesla service center is possibly on the horizon in the former mattress factory building on Bend’s north side.
But neither Tesla nor the property broker could confirm the plans.
If things move forward, it could be a game-changer for more than all the Tesla owners here.
“A service center like this is I think one of those checkboxes, like hey I can move to Central Oregon because it has a place, I can get my car serviced,” said Roger Lee, CEO of Economic Development for Central Oregon, an agency that works with businesses to set up shop in the region. “I think this is one of those things that maybe people move to a city and expect it is there and this development I think delivers that.”
For now, the Ingles and other Tesla owners have to travel over the mountains or rely on mobile repair services like the one they had on Tuesday morning.
“We had our maintenance. Changed out the air filter and wiper blades,” Linda said. “He came to us, which was great and that is the only maintenance it has needed.”
And the mechanic seemed to have an inside scoop.
“He said that in a few months there would be a service center in the area,” Linda said. “Having it here. I don’t know why anybody would buy any other car.”
