Why Texas Bans the Sale of Tesla Cars

And other states are considering doing the same, because Tesla sells directly to the consumer and doesn’t license care dealerships. That has dealership associations lobbying to keep Tesla out.

We actually train people to educate,” explained [Elon] Musk. “We always wanted to be a really low-key kind of friendly environment, where we’re not constantly trying to close deals.”

That’s a dig at the traditional middlemen in the car-buying experience: the car dealers. Musk wants to cut them out completely. He thinks customers don’t like them and that dealers are prejudiced against electric cars.

“It takes them at least twice as much effort to sell someone an electric car and to educate them as to why an electric car is good,” said Musk. “And so if we were to go through the traditional dealer path, the result would be a disaster.”

So Musk is declaring war on car dealers, but car dealers are also declaring war on Musk. They have already successfully booted him out of Texas and there is anti-Tesla legislation pending in North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia.

“This happens all the time,” said Bill Wolters, the president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association. “Someone wants an exception to the franchise laws. If we made an exception for everybody that showed up in the legislature, before long the integrity of the entire franchise system is in peril.”

By: William

retired military , former cop, lifelong gym rat and doting grandfather alive and living in Maine