Dec. 12, 2018—Rich Benoit, star of the YouTube series, "Rich Rebuilds," is crowdfunding to open a repair shop that services electric vehicles and later educates owners on how to take care of the vehicle, Motherboard reports. "Rich Rebuilds" focuses on repairing, upgrading, and modifying electric vehicles, according to the Motherboard publication.
“The goal is kind of a ‘safe haven’ for [electric vehicles],” Benoit told Motherboard in an email. “It’s a place where Teslas, or really any kind of other [electric vehicle], in or out of warranty, can come to get worked on, serviced and upgraded.”
Benoit told Motherboard he wants owners to have a repair shop that isn't run by Tesla, which charges $175 an hour to work on its cars, Motherboard reports.
“Tesla is great but they are starting to become a slow-moving ship,” Benoit said to Motherboard. “They can't keep up with the orders they have now for cars, or the service of the cars that they sell, so owners are suffering.”
In addition, Benoit wants the facility to have an educational aspect to the facility.
“The number one question I get from people is how [electric vehicles] actually work,” Benoit said to Motherboard. “So we're going to dedicate a place in the shop where we have kids and adults come in to see how the cars are made, and we will also convert cars that run on gas to electricity.”
According to Motherboard, Benoit said he's talked to Tesla employees who are eager to work together if the project funds.
“I have three employees that currently work for Tesla that are willing to leave and work for the ‘startup’ because they believe in it,” Benoit said to Motherboard. “They [want to leave] Tesla to join for the same reason they started working for Tesla—it’s something new, innovative, fast-moving, and an alternative to what’s currently out there.”
