The service network should scale with the parc, not the launch date
For a new EV joint venture in China, the first phase used existing partner capacity. Dedicated formats, investor capital, technician capability and regional logistics were added only as volume justified them.
The vehicle programme needed national service coverage before the new brand had enough vehicles on the road to support a purpose-built network.
The first phase therefore used an existing nationwide service network. That reduced the initial fixed-capital requirement and bought time to learn where demand, technical work and customer behaviour actually concentrated.
The point was not that existing capacity was free. It was that launch economics did not have to carry the full fixed cost of the future network before the parc existed.
Smaller workshops handled routine EV service work that did not need a full regional technical hub.
Larger locations handled complex repair, technical support and parts coordination for the surrounding network.
The project used planning inputs including a maximum intended customer distance of 50 kilometres and 2.5 to 3 service visits per vehicle per year. These were case assumptions, not universal EV benchmarks.
Regional investor partnerships were used to expand the dedicated network without putting the full capital burden on the OEM.
The operating model around the investors was defined at the same time: service packages, high-voltage capability, parts ordering, customer systems, audit routines, KPIs and incentives.
Partner capital can accelerate coverage, but it also adds another control boundary. Standards and management routines therefore have to become stronger, not lighter.
High-voltage work required role-specific capability. The programme distinguished High Voltage Technician and High Voltage Expert roles and used OEM-certified trainers with a train-the-trainer cascade.
The parts and battery logistics design compared four routes: the existing network, third-party logistics, a dedicated logistics company and a hybrid model. The selected model used central warehousing during ramp-up and moved toward more regional distribution as volume grew.
Battery condition checks, repair-versus-replacement procedures and forward planning for recycling and repurposing were included from the start.
The service business case connected parts sales, warranty assumptions and profitability by service format to the expected vehicle population.
Those assumptions informed outlet design, investor discussions and retail pricing. The useful feature was the ability to see when the next layer of fixed capacity became justified by the parc.
at.Pointe engagement. The revised case retains the 50 km coverage target and 2.5 to 3 annual service-visit assumption as project inputs. It does not carry forward the original 12-to-18-month competitive-advantage claim, zero-incremental-cost wording or unsupported early-break-even language.
An EV aftersales network does not have to be built as one final-state footprint in advance.
The case used existing capacity for launch, modular dedicated formats for the next stage, partner capital for expansion, explicit high-voltage capability, and logistics and battery processes that changed with scale.
Keep the customer promise ahead of the parc, but keep fixed capacity close enough behind it that capital is not committed years before the work arrives.
Written from operating experience, not market commentary.