Tesla submits plans for servicing facility
LDRSTesla has submitted plans to occupy a new facility in Reading.
The electric car company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, sent an application to Reading Borough Council for a new service centre, bodyshop and a small showroom.
The new Reading Logistics Park will see Tesla occupy the recently completed facility near the town's International Business Park.
Servicing, maintenance and general repair work will be available at the new site, provided that the planning is approved.
A document by ELG Planning states: "Our client intends to use it as a car servicing centre and bodyshop, vehicle delivery 'hub', and ancillary car showroom.
"The car servicing and bodyshop space will be used for the servicing, maintenance and general repair work to vehicles.
"The showroom provides an opportunity – primarily for existing visiting Tesla customers – to view new Tesla models whilst making use of the servicing centre."
Tesla's first dealership in Reading was established in Basingstoke Road on a site previously occupied by a Peugeot dealer, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The company has established itself as a leading electric car maker since 2012, when its trademark Model S was launched in the USA, and later in the UK in 2014.
Musk, the world's richest person, took over as Tesla CEO in 2008 after businessmen Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded the company in 2003.
The Tesla boss, who also owns SpaceX, has become a controversial public figure.
After acquiring social media platform Twitter in 2022 and renaming it to X, and endorsing Donald Trump in the US presidential election in 2024, Musk has often divided public opinion.