We got a look inside Tesla's first sales and service center in Brooklyn, New York

Tesla is one of several new businesses transforming Red Hook, which was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Lots of new construction is happening in the neighborhood, and there is a growing number of new shops, bars, cafés, and restaurants.

Tesla told Business Insider that the location fit well into its greater New York-market strategy.

"We needed a lot of space," Snyder said. "We have a tremendous number of cars on the road, and only more that are going to be on the road, so we wanted to identify a space that could service thousands of vehicles, and Red Hook is the pinnacle of up-and-coming area in Brooklyn."

Tesla's only other New York location is in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Parked out front was a Model S — Tesla says it has sold more than 100,000 of these electric vehicles to customers worldwide.

The Tesla logo was designed by Prado Studio.

"As families have moved out of Manhattan and over to Brooklyn, it's really more of a lifestyle choice, and we wanted to be able to service that lifestyle," Snyder said.

"We also wanted to put down a greater stake in the New York market," he said. "We wanted an iconic building that we could develop out. This is one of a number of opportunities that we'll see growing in this market."

This is what the showroom looked like just a few weeks ago.

We showed up just as the staff were moving showroom cars around.

This is Tesla's newest offering, the all-wheel-drive Model X with its exotic-looking "falcon wing" doors.

This car is going to get a lot of attention.

Quite a lot of space in the back of the Model X.

Tesla says over-the-air software updates allow it to diagnose and fix most bugs in Model X and Model S without the need for customers to bring vehicles in for service.

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Click to watch the "falcon-wing" doors open on the Model X.

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And click again to watch the doors open on the Model X from behind.

A poster on one of the showroom walls helps customers visualize Tesla's self-driving tech.

"Tesla stores invite customers to learn about electric driving with enticing visuals, interactive displays, and a design studio where customers can create their own Tesla," the company said.

"Part of the real excitement of building your own car is that you know every choice you're making," Snyder told Business Insider. "It's like building a custom home. People get really into it and excited about it. It's not often that you get that opportunity to build your own car."

You use the large touchscreen to build your Tesla. Racing bike not included.

Start the day right.

Above, one of Tesla's Superchargers.

So how will Tesla owners in Brooklyn charge their cars?

"We've partnered with almost all of the major garage companies in Manhattan, which also service Brooklyn," Snyder told Business Insider. "We have added a lot of Tesla high-powered wall connectors into the most popular garages where we know our customers frequent. Basically that is to allow our Tesla customers to have an easy ownership."

There's even a Tesla chassis on display ...

The staff were busy putting the finishing touches on the place and getting ready for the public opening.

This is some of the new staff who will be working at the Tesla Red Hook location.

The red-and-white color scheme is very thematic for Tesla.

"Tesla is reinventing the car-buying experience and revolutionizing auto ownership," the company says.

"With a Tesla there are far fewer moving parts compared to an internal-combustion vehicle," Snyder said. "Because of that, it requires a lot less servicing. For instance, an internal-combustion engine has 200 to 300 moving parts, and an electric motor in a Tesla has one moving part.

"So when you're taking about our all-wheel drive Model X or our Model S, you're taking about one moving part in each motor, so far fewer things to go wrong, which requires far less service — no oil changes, no filter changes, nothing like that."

"Just as customers would with any other car, they can pull into their garage, their lot attendant plugs it in for them and charges it, and they wake up every day to a full charge," Snyder said.

"That's living in Manhattan. We're doing something similar in Brooklyn. We have an interesting partner here called Luxe, basically a valet that comes to you. You plug in where you're going to be with your car on your app, they meet you there, take your car, charge it, and then drop it back off to you.

"So if you're home for the night, they'll pick up your car at your house, have it charged, and have it back to you in the morning when you need it. It's really an amazing solution for Brooklynites who don't have their own garages. Some do, but some don't, and a lot of people street-park. We wanted to make sure we launched our Brooklyn site with a solution that would work for our customers, at least in the short and medium term as more infrastructure is added."

"We'll be able to service thousands of vehicles out of this location," Snyder told Business Insider. "Most people are used to dropping off their cars at a service center, where there's a tech assigned to a car and the car is sitting for like, a day, maybe two depending on what work you're waiting for, and they work on the car until it's completed.

"Tesla takes a very different approach to service. What we do is much more of a pit-crew-style servicing of a car. If it's a small thing that needs work, we'll fast-lane it in, bring it out, within minutes or hours rather than days. If it's a bigger issue, there will be multiple people who get on that car immediately as it arrives."

"So you have a scheduled appointment, a bunch of people get on that car immediately, get it resolved, and get it out the door," Snyder said. "The goal is that nobody is without their car for more than a day. But really we want folks to have a very seamless service experience. In fact, we have the highest consumer-satisfaction rating for service of any auto manufacturer."

A Hunter tire changer.

A Hunter wheel balancer.

Just as at a conventional garage, Tesla vehicles can be lifted to get a view of the underside.

For a service garage, this place is extremely clean. And it will probably stay that way: Tesla's aren't nearly as dirty to work on as traditional cars.

There's lots of storage space in this facility for new tires and lots of other equipment ...

A heavy-duty charger for use in the garage ...

More storage!

The green laser is mysterious. We don't actually know what it does.

After checking out the service center we headed up to the second floor to check out the garage.

Tesla will park and charge customers' cars up here.

This is what a Tesla wall charger looks like.

The view from Tesla's parking garage of Red Hook Container Terminal and, across the water, Manhattan.

After our little tour, we got to take a short test-drive in the luxurious Model S P90DS. It goes zero to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds in "Ludicrous Mode" and handles beautifully. The Autopilot system takes some getting used to, especially if you're new to self-driving cars, but it's definitely cool.

The touchscreen is huge — 17 inches, to be exact.

You can watch what it's like to drive the Tesla Model S with Autopilot here.

The new Tesla Red Hook location opens to the public this Friday.