About a month ago, Tesla opened a class leading sales and service facility in Auckland South, bigger, better and more in keeping with the brand’s ownership of the electric vehicle market.
Class-leading? Certainly, especially if you consider the size of the site. The Tesla facility spans 28,780 square metres – about the size of three rugby fields – and is equipped with rainwater harvesting capability, solar panel energy sourcing, LED lighting and Tesla Powerwall units.
For those unfamiliar with the Tesla Powerwall, this is an integrated battery system, which stores solar energy in compact wall units and makes the energy available in power outage situations.
And while the Tesla facility is a showcase of customer comfort and convenience while purchasing a Tesla, it is also a smart and environmentally considerate infrastructure, whose employees take more than a measure of pride in. We were in fact, asked to wait while a technician ensured cabling was tidied for the photograph!
The service centre especially comes in for specific mention, as the equipment therein contributes to the unique nature of the facility.
The 16 two-post hoists currently installed – there are more coming apparently – were supplied by Precision Equipment, New Zealand’s leading Rotary equipment agency.
Rotary and Tesla have a well-established collaboration globally speaking, with Rotary having developed a branded two-post hoist specifically for the servicing of Tesla product.
The Tesla-branded hoists are in fact, Shockwave hoists from Rotary, launched back in 2011 and the result of two years’ research and development.
These are battery-powered hoists which have a significant speed advantage over regular hoists requiring a three-phase power supply.
The Shockwave hoists – being battery powered – do not actually need three phase power. In fact, they can run – technically speaking – off a 10-amp power socket, which is all you need to charge the batteries to power the hoist.
In the case of Tesla’s service centre, the power to the hoists comes through the solar panels which feed into the Tesla Powerwall units to keep the hoists going, even in the event of an outage.
Jason McCabe of Precision Equipment says the installation costs of the Shockwave hoists are reduced and the operating costs are lower as the result of using less electricity at peak times.
Another advantage of the DC-powered hoists is speed. Shockwave hoists are today regarded as the fastest two-post hoists you can have with a 19 second raise and 20 second lower time.
For workshops with large traffic flows where time equals money and can be measured accordingly, hoist speed is a significant consideration.
National business manager for Precision Equipment, Chris Ratcliffe says, “We have had access to the Shockwave/Tesla hoists for quite some time, as part of Precision Equipment’s commitment to providing our customers the latest in hoist technology from Rotary.
“The Shockwave hoists are an excellent example, equipped as they are with laser guidance systems to ensure correct and efficient placement of the vehicle to be lifted.
“No more ‘backing and filling’ which means less vehicle movement in the workshop area and the hoists also feature a safety interlock visual cue so the technician knows the hoist is locked in place so that he/she can move about under the vehicle safely.
“With the Tesla centre opening as a working success story and validating the Shockwave technology, as well as the upsurge of EVs in general, we expect more workshops will be interested in finding out about the Shockwave hoist advantage for themselves.”
While EVs do not require as much servicing as ICE vehicles, they do require specialised equipment, especially when it comes to hoists.
Given that no two EVs are the same, each with proprietary battery tech and positioning differences at the minimum, hoists must have the right accessories to service individual makes.
“Rotary has worked with most major EV manufacturers and as such, has the ability to supply workshops with the right accessory equipment,” adds Chris, “regardless of the brand.”
To find out more about the Shockwave hoists and how you can partner with the suppliers to the auto brands of tomorrow, visit Precision Equipment’s website.
