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Tesla Banned In New Jersey From Selling Cars Direct To Consumers

Tesla Model S

Tesla, an electric car manufacturer, has been prohibited from selling their cars directly to consumers in New Jersey. This comes as a result of new rules imposed by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC).

The vote by the NJMVC imposes new restrictions preventing the manufacturer of electric cars from selling directly to its customer base in the state. Instead, the car maker will be forced to rely on a franchised dealer to sell its unique brand of electric vehicle to customers in Jersey.

While they’re the latest state to prohibit Tesla from selling directly to customers in their state, they aren’t the first to prevent the manufacturer from selling customer direct. Both Arizona and Texas have relied on previously established laws to keep Tesla, stores out of their states, reported ARS Technica Staff Editor, Megan Geuss. To quote Megan on the reasoning behind these laws, they were established in order to:

[…] protect the sunk costs that franchises have put into their dealerships and to promote competition among dealers.

These laws in Arizona and Texas have left Tesla’s shops as what their company refers to as “galleries,” as their employees can’t let you take a test drive or so much as tell you how much the Model S costs. While these restrictions may appear to be extremely restrictive, it’s worth noting that one can still attend one of Tesla’s test drive events every so often, find the price of a Model S on the Tesla Motors website, and even buy one of their cars. The latter of which being done through a third party which delivers the vehicle, however, some buyers have reported picking their cars up at Tesla Galleries.

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