Tesla is heading to Halifax.
The company is hiring, posting three positions in the area recently including one for a salesperson, suggesting the tech giant is about to set up shop to sell electric vehicles in the Nova Scotia capital.
Earlier this week, the California company — the best-selling plug-in and battery electric passenger car manufacturer in the world — posted an online job advertisement for a sales advisor in Dartmouth. Last month the company also posted job ads for a commercial field service electrician in Nova Scotia and a cells material engineer in Dartmouth.
According to the sales advisor listing, the successful new hire "will support customers from the moment they walk into our showrooms to learn about through to their delivery day experience." It later indicates the employee will "(e)ngage walk in guests."
SaltWire Network contacted Tesla through its press email address for comment, but did not receive a response. Earlier this month, Driving.ca reported Tesla had become the first automaker to dissolve its public relations department, suggesting the company intended to cease fielding media requests.
David Giles knows Teslas well. He is vice president of ALL EV Canada, a used electric vehicle dealership and service station with locations in Halifax and Charlottetown. Giles reckons the business has sold more than 20 Teslas in the last four-to-five months, and he would welcome the arrival of a local Tesla store.
"I think it's going to be really good," he said. "When one of the big players like Tesla jumps on board and moves into the Atlantic region with a sales centre, it really says they really see big growth in Atlantic Canada, as they've seen in Vancouver, Ontario and Quebec."
Tesla currently has a service technician based in the Atlantic region who deals directly with vehicle owners.
Viable option
Giles does not consider Tesla's interest in the region to be a threat to businesses like ALL EV.
"It will definitely help our business, because it helps people to understand and see that electric vehicles are an option. They are viable. The dealers like Steele and O'Regan's are now pushing electric cars in their advertising. They're trying to get into the electric vehicle market. We're seeing more and more consumers very curious about electric vehicles."
The environmental footprint of electric vehicles, along with the cost savings buyers can realize on maintenance, helps make them more attractive to potential buyers, according to Giles.
"Tesla is obviously a leader in electric vehicles just because of its brand," he said.
The cost of a new Tesla in Canada ranges from about $53,000 to $150,000 depending on the model. Unlike other automakers producing electric vehicles as part of their wider fleet, Tesla only produces electric vehicles.
"You go to a Hyundai dealer, they sell electric, they sell hybrid, they sell gas," Giles said. "But if you go into a Tesla store, that's all they sell is electric. There's no variation. Those people that are going into a Tesla store to purchase a vehicle — right now, it's all online — I think that will open their eyes and say, 'Maybe if a new Tesla isn't for us, maybe a used Tesla or something else along those lines that (ALL EV) may carry.' I think just having the media attention Tesla will get over their vehicles coming is going to be a big boost for the EV community for sure and the amount of EVs being introduced into Atlantic Canada."
