Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, plans to expand its electric and hybrid vehicle services at 44 of the company’s Firestone Complete Auto Care and Wheel Works stores in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California.

While EV services today account for less than 10% of total services at Bridgestone’s retail operations nationwide, the company expects demand to increase significantly by the end of the decade.

Bridgestone Retail Operations operates more than 2,200 tire and vehicle service centers across the US, including Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Hibdon Tires Plus and Wheel Works store locations.

New services offered in Austin and San Francisco consist of inspections, diagnostics, maintenance and repairs involving high-voltage components, including health checks and troubleshooting for batteries, electric motors and electrical systems. Bridgestone currently offers low-voltage hybrid and EV services at retail stores nationwide. The company also offers safety training for work on hybrid and electric vehicles at all technician levels.

Bridgestone plans to install a total of 50 Level 2 charging stations at 25 Firestone Complete Auto Care and Wheel Works stores in the first quarter of 2022. The chargers, provided by Blink Charging, will be installed at stores in Austin, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“It’s an exciting time to be in the automotive service industry as mobility evolves to be cleaner and more sustainable,” said Marko Ibrahim, President, Bridgestone Retail Operations. “We truly believe what’s good for society is good for business, which is why we are increasing our investments in plug-in vehicle services in two key markets with plans to expand further in the future. The steps we take now will ensure we are the service provider of choice for new-energy vehicles.”

Source: Bridgestone