Hamilton Mall opens largest showroom, service centre for Tesla

December 19, 2024

Tesla cars in showroom of the Lime Ridge Mall (photo by Shay Markowitz)

Hamilton is known as the Electric City and now has added to that history by becoming the home to the largest Tesla showroom and full-scale service centre in Canada.

It is located in Cadillac Fairview’s Lime Ridge Mall, and not far from Nikola Tesla Boulevard. Nikola Tesla was in Hamilton in 1898 when he helped build the first hydroelectric generating plant in Canada in Hamilton, and had the street named after him in 2016.

The showroom and service centre is on the second level of the mall and encompasses about 60,000 square feet (5,574 square metres). Much of that is space dedicated to the service centre, which has 22 vehicle lifts. Outside the mall are seven Tesla superchargers and an additional 20 superchargers in a nearby overflow lot.

While Tesla operates service centres in Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville and Kitchener, the Hamilton location was necessary to serve the growing demand all the way south to Buffalo and west to London. 

The grand opening took place on December 11 and included dignitaries such as Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath.

Service area of Tesla store at Lime Ridge Mall

“Not only are we known as the Electric City of Canada, but the ambitious city, so everything fits right in,” said Horwath, who later sat inside a Tesla Cybertruck in the showroom. 

The space for the Tesla complex became available when some tenant stores closed. Michael Peiser, Vice President of Development for Cadillac Fairview, said Tesla had a need for servicing new and existing customers in a broader geography south and west of the Greater Toronto Area. He said his company is dedicated to making strategic developments and to drive growth and innovation. 

The company launched its national electric vehicle charging program at 15 of its properties across Canada in 2017. Collectively it has more than 400 EV chargers on those properties. Peiser said the Hamilton project was years in the making and supports sustainable transportation in Ontario.

“It was an ambitious vision several years ago, and this milestone could not have been possible without Tesla’s support and collaboration and dedication,” said Peiser. “It’s much more about the need for them. From our perspective, we had good space available, good access. You can drive in. It’s very conducive to servicing vehicles.”

He added that it just happened to be “a very serendipitous moment where you have the space, and the characteristics of it are unique enough to serve their needs. The conventional dealership that would take up 5-10 acres (2-4 hectares) of land, they’re just harder to come by, given how real estate has changed.”

“Tesla is unique. They’re more of a technology company in many ways. Initially the focus was on getting vehicles to market quickly, but as adoption grew the need for service infrastructure became critical. This location allows them to return to the fundamentals of automotive ownership, servicing cars effectively and efficiently.”  

Tesla Canada Regional Sales Manager Michelle Veenhuizen said the company was thrilled to be part of the Hamilton community and excited to bring its products to Lime Ridge Mall.

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