Tesla Using Abandoned Mall as Overflow

Locals near the town of Chesterfield, Missouri have reported fleets of new Tesla models appearing in the parking lot of a once-bustling shopping mall. But, as usual, there’s more to the story than may be suggested in bombastic headlines.

It would be easy to draw a direct correlation between any changes in EV demand and the sudden uptick in new or near-new Tesla vehicles which have been stored at the soon-to-be-demolished Chesterfield Mall. It is said that over 10 rows of these machines are loitering in what used to be a space in which Sears shoppers would park, with models from each corner of the Tesla empire counted amongst the morass – including numerous examples of the Cybertruck. 

A  news outlet in the area dug into the situation and found the vehicles to be linked with a Tesla dealership a few miles away from the defunct mall.

“One of our users happens to be Tesla, who does have a dealership in the [Chesterfield] Valley, but does not have enough capacity at the dealership to park all of the cars they are bringing in,” said a rep for the company that owns the mall, speaking to the news outlet. “So they are renting space within the parking lot to store their cars.” The rep estimates there could be upwards of 400 Teslas in the space.

What isn’t immediately clear is if the units are unsold inventory or vehicles which are awaiting some sort of service attention. The nearby St. Louis-Chesterfield dealer lists  itself as both a store and service center, if you’re wondering. Also, a quick check on Google Maps suggests this practice has been going on for some spell, with images from last summer showing a phalanx of Tesla vehicles parked in this same space – though not nearly as many.

No matter the reason, this dealer will have to find a new solution in a couple of months; the Chesterfield Mall is slated for demolition and all tenants, including ones out in the parking lot, must vacate by the end of August.

[Images: YouTube, Google]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by  subscribing to our newsletter.