The dealership, located at 6916 NE Fourth Plain Blvd., opened Tuesday for sales and delivery and the service area of the dealership will be open soon

One of the largest names in electric vehicles has opened in Vancouver and is putting a charge into the local market.

Tesla has arrived in Clark County.

The dealership, located at 6916 NE Fourth Plain Blvd., opened Tuesday (Jan. 31) for sales and delivery. The service area of the dealership will be open soon. The property also has a dozen charging stations for Tesla owners.

Customers were taking test drives on Tuesday, and making other inquiries regarding the luxury vehicles.

According to a January article on electrek.com, Tesla became the top luxury brand in the U.S. automotive market, the first time an American brand could make that claim.

The article, citing Automotive News, said that Tesla sold 491,000 luxury vehicles in the U.S. in 2022. BMW was second at 332,000 vehicles. 

Clark County Today does not have the breakdown of how many Teslas have been purchased by area residents. But those who do own Teslas have had to drive to Portland in order to have their vehicles serviced. The new facility in Vancouver will eventually have a service center, too.

On Tuesday, Clark County Today witnessed several Teslas parked and attached to the charging stations on the property.

Happy Clark County Tesla owners

For the past eight years, Clark County resident David Madore, owner and founder of US Digital and Clark County Today, has driven the same Tesla. He was so happy with the vehicle that when it was time for he and his wife Donna to replace her 2011 Toyota Avalon, the Madore’s decided to become a two-Tesla family.

The Madore’s ordered a Tesla Model Y Long Range, with blue paint, white interior and trailer hitch. The Madores agreed to a sales price of $69,440. About two weeks prior to delivery of Donna’s new Tesla, without provocation, the company reduced the price $13,000 to $56,440. “What company does that after we committed to the higher price? So great!’’ David Madore said.

A little project history

Building plans for the Tesla facility were first filed with the city of Vancouver in March 2021. The sale of the property was completed Jan. 6, 2022 by Drake Motor Partners Vancouver LLC at a price of $3.4 million. Drake Motor Partners is based in Denver, Colorado.

The single-story, 32,500-square-foot building is now completed and located near the intersection of NE Fourth Plain Blvd. and NE Andresen Rd.

The phone number listed on the front door at the new Vancouver location is (360) 975-6796. A representative at the dealership did not know if that number rang to the Vancouver location or to a Tesla phone bank.

A friendly transition

Prior to the purchase of the property that serves as the home of Tesla Vancouver by Drake Motor Partners, the site was leased by New Horizons Dental. Clinic Administrator Kathy Hunter said the transition between the two businesses “went very nice. They’re very nice people.’’

Hunter provided an example of the neighborly attitude between the two during the transition.

“One thing that happened was a person representing Tesla came into our office and said ‘we just want to make sure your moving goes well and if you need anything’,’’ said Hunter, who at the time lamented the fact that the New Horizons Dental team still needed to find someone to haul away all the items and other things not needed for their new location. “They were very, very gracious. They said, ‘leave whatever you don’t want,’ so we left everything. It saved us a lot of cleaning expense.’’

New Horizons Dental started seeing its general dentistry patients on July 28, 2022 at its new location at 15704 NE Fourth Plain Blvd. in Vancouver. The office phone number is (360) 694-7070. For more information, go to newhorizonsdental.com.

Clark County Today Editor Ken Vance contributed to this report.