Dubai: If you’re one of the lucky ones to have ordered a Tesla electric car after the company announced it was taking UAE orders starting February 13, you won’t have to worry about shipping it back to the US for servicing.
Construction crews are hard at work creating a new Tesla Motors service centre in Dubai, a first in the Middle East, on the sliproad northwest of Shaikh Zayed Road between Burj Khalifa metro station and Al Mazaya Centre.
When it opens in July, it will make UAE only the 22nd country in the world to have service centres able to service the new electric cars that are taking the world by storm.
Following confirmation by Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla, at the World Government Summit last week that Tesla was setting up shop in the UAE, car enthusiasts are welcoming news the first cars will be shipped to Dubai by summer.
For now, the front of the Tesla service centre site is covered, with a large hoarding encouraging the curious to test drive the cars.
During a Dubai press conference, Musk told reporters that in addition to the arrival of new cars and the opening of the new service centre, the firm has already opened two super-charging stations in the UAE at the last Jebel Ali exit on Shaikh Zayed Road en route to Abu Dhabi and in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.
“By the end of the year, Tesla will open five additional Supercharger locations, enabling long distance travel across every route into and out of the country. The UAE is already home to a number of Tesla’s Destination chargers, which are available at 26 locations across the UAE, including hotels and shopping malls. Tesla will add more than 50 additional Destination charging locations by the end of the year,” Tesla officials said in a statement.
The company said customers looking to explore the new lines of Model S and Model X can log on to www.tesla.com/en_AE for details.
“Customers in the UAE can now visit the online design studio to customise and order the Tesla vehicle that best suits their lifestyle. First orders of Model S and Model X vehicles are expected to be delivered in Dubai this summer,” the company said.
The launch of the UAE’s dedicated online platform is supported by a pop-up store in The Dubai Mall.
