Your new Tesla, Sir? Step into my warehouse

Ordered a new Tesla Model 3? When it comes to collecting your pride and joy, hopefully you’re not expecting to do so in a fancy city showroom with pomp, ceremony and Champagne.

Model 3 sales are gangbusters right now – historically low drive-away prices and ever more Australian EV incentives helping matters – so Tesla Delivery Hubs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are the solution. These are permanent sites for new owners to pick up their cars away from city showrooms.

We were able to have a brief look at the Brisbane facility; a substantial warehouse 15 minutes’ drive from Tesla’s city showroom.

The Fortitude Valley (Brisbane) Tesla showroom isn’t a large space, and clearly the increase in sales and deliveries has meant the overflow site has been required in recent months.

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Brisbane’s Tesla Delivery Hub is in a commercial estate in the suburb of Hendra, where around 50 Model 3s and at least one Model S (which may have been second-hand; people buying a Model S are being told it will not be delivered until late 2022) looked set for collection. Some were already Queensland registered, some were awaiting their new plates.

There’s basic Tesla signage and a large statement hanging from the warehouse’s vast ceiling stating: “Thank you for accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

Customer appeal

They may hardly be salubrious surrounds, but the warehouse pickup merely reflects how many Teslas Australians are buying and why this overspill site is required.

Model 3s can be on the road for around the $60,000 mark – a near 20 percent reduction over 2020 prices – while the Electric Vehicle Council’s latest sales figures show over 5000 have sold in 2021 so far. That’s easily more than twice that of ICE rivals BMW 3-Series (2260) and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (2314).

Queenslander Tyron Cleine collected his new Model 3 in July, just before the Brisbane warehouse opened. He said the handover he had at the dealer showroom was already very different from his experience of buying new cars from other brands, and that collection away from the showroom was not only fine, but preferable to him.

“I suspect someone who has bought a Mercedes or Lexus in the past and had a half-day handover would get a bit of a shock,” he said. “With a Tesla you’re prepositioned that everything’s going to be different anyway. You’ve bought online, there’s no haggling on price.

“We had a group handover with about 15 people all at once being allocated our cars. The staff were there to walk you through any queries, and I liked it. I just got the car, no-one was in my ear, and it was a nice experience. If I wanted a more personalised service it was there.”

Mr Cleine said he had been sent many messages from Tesla ahead of collecting his new Model 3. He watched the videos on how to operate the car and this made for a quick and easy collection.

He also said collecting from a site away from the main showroom wouldn’t concern him. “I’ve bought a product online as I would a washing machine. I’m happy to just go and pick it up.”

Tesla Australia has been approached for comment on how many vehicles it is dispatching from the Delivery Hubs each week, whether others were in the pipeline, and if customers can collect from the showroom if they’d prefer.