General Motors dealerships have repaired thousands of Tesla electric cars, GM claimed in its annual investor day presentation.
First spotted by Barrons, a slide in the presentation simply reads “11,180 repairs on Teslas” without elaboration. We’ve reached out to GM for comment on, and will update this story when we hear back.
Tesla in the past has made it difficult for third parties to repair its vehicles, but its grip is being loosened by right to repair legislation.
Tesla charging (Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.)
Right to repair bills have aims to allow access to detailed repair instructions and some software so as to enable more independent shops to work on EVs. The Biden administration has stood behind this as a positive for EVs overall, but it’s likely to have a particularly big impact on Tesla repairs.
Tesla has previously hobbled cars that get major rebuilds—or things like battery transplants—anywhere but service centers, limiting their charging rates at Superchargers, for instance. It did however recently start inspecting “salvaged” EVs to re-enable features.
Without right to repair laws, even owners of cars that don’t need heavy repairs could be out of luck depending on the willingness of the company to continue supporting older models. Owners of the original Tesla Roadster had to resort to some workarounds with private shops before Tesla started supporting them once again.
2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV
Now it seems some of the same protections being put in place for independent repair shops could also benefit GM—one of the world’s largest automakers—and its dealer network.
That dealer network is currently undergoing its own transition to an EV-heavy future. GM has looked to its dealerships to deploy destination chargers in communities, and it’s asking dealerships to install chargers and make other changes to prepare for more EV sales. The automaker has offered buyouts to Cadillac and Buick dealers who don’t want to go along with this plan, although hasn’t offered them to its Chevy dealers.
