Tesla confirms closure at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Tesla Motors has confirmed it has permanently closed its showroom at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. However, the company is terming the exit from the mall as a "move," and is directing potential customers to its Rockville dealership at 1300 Rockville Pike, and to its showroom in Georgetown at 3307 M Street NW. A peek inside the shuttered Montgomery Mall store finds a lone Tesla Cybertruck remaining of the cars that were on display until the operation abruptly closed, without explanation, early last week. 

The company is not yet publicly declaring the reason for the Bethesda closure. Tesla facilities and individual Tesla vehicles have been the target of vandalism and violent attack across the country in recent weeks, by opponents of Elon Musk's executive branch DOGE initiative within the administration of President Donald Trump. Outside the mall, a large Tesla billboard remains in place on a parking garage.

Are Bethesda residents turning in their Tesla Cybertrucks?

Now that the Tesla store has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall, the only place to find a Tesla in a showroom or on a sales lot in Bethesda at the moment is at EuroMotorcars at 7020 Arlington Road. A Tesla Cybertruck is now on prominent display in the used car area. Cybertrucks have been on the road here for barely a year, so it seems awfully soon to be trading one in, but here it is. While the Cybertruck design has been divisive, other Tesla models have been hugely popular in Bethesda for over a decade, until Elon Musk began backing Donald Trump last summer. Still, I saw 3 Cybertrucks in one hour in Bethesda.

Tesla closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

The Tesla store has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Signage has been removed from above the storefront. Tesla opened this showroom in 2013. It just recently had begun to display the Launch Edition of the new Model Y. The store is still on the mall website map, and no reason for the closure has been given as of this writing. 

Tesla Model Y Launch Edition on display at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

The new Tesla Model Y Launch Edition is now on display at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. It is parked inside the Tesla Store alongside other electric vehicles from the company. The Launch Edition is a fully-loaded version of the popular crossover EV. It features the full-self-driving system (FSD), a tow hitch, and has a range of 327 miles.

A key selling point for the new Model Y is the quieter and smoother driving experience. This was achieved via an updated tire and wheel package, and redesigned body castings that reduced gaps. The interior is all-new in design and materials. Pet owners leaving an animal in the car unattended can activate Dog Mode to maintain a safe interior temperature at all times. The display model at the mall is in Ultra Red color.

Upgraded Tesla Model 3 at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda (Photos)

Westfield Montgomery Mall is located in one of areas of the country with the greatest adoption of electric vehicles. It also has a Tesla store. Therefore, it's not surprising that the company has been showcasing the new upgraded Model 3 at the mall. The Model 3 now comes in the new color choices of Ultra Red and Stealth Grey. Changes to the interior include wrap-around ambient lighting, ventilated front seats, acoustic glass, "studio quality sound from every seat," and a rear touchscreen display.

Tesla driver crashes into sidewalk dining area at Silver Diner in Bethesda (Video + Photos)

A Tesla driver crashed into the outdoor sidewalk dining area outside of Silver Diner at 7150 Woodmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda shortly before 6:00 PM tonight. There is no report of injuries to the driver. It did not immediately appear that there were people dining in the impacted portion of the dining area at the time of the crash, and diners further up from the crash in the same patio area are dining as if nothing serious had happened at this time. Personnel from the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service and the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad are on the scene. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

How do they get a Tesla in and out of an indoor mall Tesla Store? (Video+Photos)

How do they get the Teslas in and out of the Tesla Store at Westfield Montgomery Mall? I always imagined there was a large freight door somewhere beyond the public areas of the mall where cars could enter and exit. But one night recently a Tesla was caught exiting the mall, and was able to go through a regular doorway. Now how do they get combustion engine cars in and out without turning the motor on?

Bethesda Row parking garage to add Tesla Supercharger station

The Colonial Parking-operated garage at Bethesda Row will be adding a Tesla Supercharger station in the months ahead. Located at 4950 Elm Street, the garage will feature 12 Tesla charging posts. When activated, this location will appear on your dashboard touchscreen. Supercharger stations at properties like Bethesda Row allow Tesla owners to quickly charge their vehicle while shopping or dining.

Tesla Supercharger station now online at Pike & Rose

A new Tesla Supercharger station has now been activated in the Trade Street garage at Pike & Rose. The Federal Realty property's garage was already doing its part for the environment with the largest solar canopy on a retail garage in the state of Maryland. Now multiple stalls are available on garage Level P6 for Tesla owners to recharge while shopping, dining, or taking in a movie at Pike & Rose.

This Supercharger site is also is one more dot on the nationwide network of Tesla charging stations, a network that surpasses any of the automotive company's electric rivals in the industry. Only one Tesla owner was taking advantage of the new Supercharger last evening, but expect that to increase as the word gets out. I look forward to plugging in my Cybertruck here someday.

At Bethesda Tesla Store, buyers race the clock to score tax rebate on Model 3

The long-awaited Tesla Model 3 is now on display in the Tesla Store on Level 1 of Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. While the holiday season was a great occasion for the rapidly-dwindling number of wealthy people in Montgomery County to splurge on an electric car gift purchase, buyers need to act fast to receive an expiring federal government subsidy on the expensive machines.

A federal $7500 tax credit on Tesla Model 3 will drop to $3750 for cars received by customers on January 1, 2019 or later. That's because Tesla has already achieved the 200,000 sales point, which triggers the reduction. The tax break will continue to get smaller until it finally phases out entirely in 2020.

Most people who buy Teslas are wealthy, but the loss of the hefty subsidy could hit harder in Montgomery County. The extreme tax burden the Montgomery County Council has placed on residents continues to send the wealthiest in the county for the exits, and they've been leaving in droves to Loudoun, Fairfax, Frederick and even Howard counties. Tax revenue has dropped as a result, and the County's once-touted "Rodeo Drive" in Chevy Chase is now a boarded-up wasteland of vacant shops and smashed-out bus shelters.

With the Council already talking about yet another tax hike, expect more "rich flight" to greener, saner pastures. And for those with just a decently-high salary that ends up providing Weimar Republic-level purchasing power in overpriced MoCo, who can just squeak out a Tesla purchase, the loss of the Tesla tax break could force them to scale back to a Chevrolet Spark.

Tesla Supercharger stations to be constructed at Westfield Montgomery Mall (Photos)

Tesla has big plans to construct Supercharger stations at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The company already has what it calls a Destination charging station in the Nordstrom garage. Now the electric car brand plans to install Supercharger stations in that garage, and in the second garage by ArcLight Cinemas.

Tesla Supercharger station at
RIO/Washingtonian Center in
Gaithersburg

Each Supercharger station will have 12 charging spaces for Tesla owners, and the required cabinets and transformers. The mall previously had a small Supercharger station, but it was removed in June 2016. Supercharger stations require as short as a 20 minute stop to reach a 50% charge, while Destination charging stations are for drivers who plan to spend a few hours charging.

Like Westfield Montgomery Mall,
RIO is right at an off-ramp from I-270

The Supercharger equipment is larger, and looks like what you see in these photos from the RIO/Washingtonian Center garage in Gaithersburg, which currently has a Supercharger station. Superchargers are designed for interstate highway-proximate locations such as malls, grocery stores, and urban centers where Tesla drivers can shop, dine or take advantage of entertainment options while charging. The Owner App alerts the driver when the car is charged.

Supercharger parking sign
at RIO

Tesla says it expects the Montgomery Mall Supercharger stations to open by the end of this year. In Maryland, the company says, the current cost of Supercharging is $0.16 per kWh. Model S and X owners receive 400 kWh per year for free.

Tesla Destination charging station
in use now at Westfield Montgomery Mall

A Model X charging at
Montgomery Mall

Destination charger at
Montgomery Mall

The equipment may be different,
but still, Tesla Parking Only!