False alarm: Tesla isn't closing all its stores

Calm down, everyone. Tesla is not closing all of its stores.

The Teslaverse was twisted into knots on Friday when a rumor hit Reddit suggesting that things were not looking bright for the approximately 115 Tesla stores scattered across the United States. Specifically, a thread titled "Effective immediately many Tesla stores will be permanently closed" spurred worry that the company had decided to do away with its beloved physical locations in favor of online sales.

What gave this claim extra punch is that the poster, ElonsVelvetJacket, is a "known leaker" and thus likely to have an inside scoop.

However, as things sometimes go on the internet, this turned out to be not 100 percent accurate. And, thankfully for us, Elon Musk was all too happy to set the record straight.

"This is incorrect," Musk told Mashable via email. "We are converting some store locations to be purely service and vehicle delivery, because they aren't in the right location for sales activity. There are much better existing locations that will be used for sales and new stores opening up in places people actually go, like malls and popular street shopping areas."

The distinction made by Musk is an important one, as Tesla has different types of locations around the country. Some serve as both service centers and stores, while others are just for sales. Musk is basically saying that he is planning on expanding Tesla's capacity for service work at locations that previously also doubled as sales spots.

Make sense?

According to Electrek, the conversions are limited to Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Arizona, and should only affect seven stores.

Why is this happening now? Well, it probably has to do with the imminent release of the Model 3 and the subsequent likely need for increased service capacity, but that's just speculation. Either way, the Tesla family can breathe a sigh of relief that the physical embodiment of Uncle Elon is not going away anytime soon.