Motor manufacturer Tesla has opened a new showroom and service centre in Aberdeen – its most northerly in the UK.
The 12,000sq ft facility is based at the former Southpoint House on Wellington Circle, and is open seven days a week.
It has enough space to service three cars at once, with eight superchargers stationed outside for commuters to power up their vehicles.
The branch also has a single-vehicle showroom area and the capacity to offer “touchless” socially-distanced test drives of Tesla cars.
After booking a slot online and completing the necessary paperwork in advance, customers just have to turn up at the centre and the vehicle will be unlocked for them.
A spokeswoman said: “At this point, you will find a readily clean car to use for your test drive and a video tutorial on screen to enhance your experience.
“Simply return when you have finished.
“All help can be given over the phone or socially distanced in store and, if you want to, an order can be placed online at your leisure.”
Tesla owners can also schedule appointments with the Aberdeen centre for servicing and repairs of any issues unable to be fixed remotely with a software update.
This could involve a technician completing the work in the motorist’s driveway, or dropping it off at the centre with a loan replacement vehicle ready and waiting.
The Aberdeen branch is one of four centres Tesla has opened so far this year, with the others in Cardiff, Nottingham and Chester.
There are now 26 throughout the UK, including 19 service centres and seven retail-only shops.
It lodged plans for the north-east branch in November 2019, and applied to Aberdeen City Council for further permission to begin a £400,000 fit-out last April.
The unit was initially built as a showroom for Glenvarigill Motors Peugeot, but was converted into office space in 2006 – before a refurbishment and conversion back into a workshop in 2019.
