Tesla to use ‘Formula 1 pit crew techniques’ to offer same hour service

Elon Musk took to Twitter to announce that he is working in order for Tesla to achieve same-hour service on its vehicles as often as possible using "Formula 1 pit crew techniques."

Same-hour service as often as possible

“Excited to work with Tesla Service to enable same-hour service as often as possible! Applying Formula 1 pit crew techniques to Teslas," he wrote.

Excited to work with Tesla Service to enable same-hour service as often as possible! Applying Formula 1 pit crew techniques to Teslas.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2022

As Electrek pointed out, this is not the first time that Tesla has undertaken such an effort.

In 2015, Tesla recruited as Global Director of Service Innovation Kenny Handkammer, a 25-year F1 veteran and former Red Bull Racing chief mechanic. Handkammer implemented F1-inspired fast lanes to shorten wait times.

Welcome @Chiefboltkennyh to @TeslaMotors. He will apply Formula 1 techniques to revolutionize servicing mainstream cars.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 6, 2015

Improved servicing for all North America

Last month, Musk pointed out that he was working on same-day service for all vehicles in North America.

Working on Tesla North American service.

Goal is 2/3 of cars receive same-day service, no wait.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2022

This is a much-needed development since Tesla’s customer fleet is growing at a much faster pace than its service infrastructure. However, Musk didn’t mention how the firm would achieve such a lofty goal.

One thing is for sure: if you can't serve more people then you have got to serve them faster to keep everyone satisfied. 

During a company meeting, Musk had the following to say about his servicing plans: "I think we still have a relatively conventional approach to servicing – although we kind of use the vehicle app. So we definitely have better servicing than the rest of the industry, but I really want Tesla to look at how we can revolutionize service, and I don’t know, make it 10 times better than the rest of the industry."

Musk added that he aimed to achieve two-thirds of appointments being same-day repairs because he believes that most of them can be done on the same day as long as parts are stocked at the service centers.

Could F1-style servicing really be coming at a Tesla near you, or are Musk's plan's too ambitious to be carried out? In the past, it seems the entrepreneur achieves whatever he sets his mind to, so there's no reason to believe he won't do it this time as well.