Tesla Direct Sales Now Allowed In New Jersey

Last year, Tesla Motors was prevented from selling directly-to-consumers in New Jersey. 2015 is clearly a new year.

Today, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that will allow direct-to-consumer sales in the Garden State. We reported last year that Tesla was prevented from selling straight to consumers in New Jersey because of enforcement of a ban placed on direct-to-consumer sales from the state motor vehicle commission.

Governor Christie spoke about the new law in a statement saying, “I said last year that if the Legislature changed the law, I would sign new legislation put on my desk and that is exactly what I’m doing today. We’re pleased that manufacturers like Tesla will now have the opportunity to establish direct sales operations for consumers in a manner lawfully in New Jersey.” The bill, S2098/A3216, passed the Senate by a 30-2 vote on Monday. The bill allows direct sales to consumers and requires automakers to operate at least one service center in the state. Governor Christie and Elon Musk spoke out about the law change on Twitter.

In a twitter post Governor Christie said, “I said last yr that if NJ Legislature changed the law so @TeslaMotors could sell in NJ, I would sign it. That’s exactly what I’ve done today.” Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted out his support for supporters after the bill was signed into law. Musk said, “Thanks to everyone that supported Tesla in New Jersey! We couldn’t have done it without you.”

In 2014, Tesla very publicly lost the legal right to sell directly-to-consumers from their gallery stores in Michigan and New Jersey. Thus far in 2015, they were denied a license to sell vehicles in Utah and have seen progress on a bill that would lift their 149 vehicles per year sales limit. We will keep you updated on this story as details become available.