Tesla Gains Ground in New Jersey, Loses it in Utah

Tesla Motors has seen some ups and downs in recent weeks as they have continued to try to open their stores across the nation. During the past week the electric car company founded by Elon Musk has made headlines in Utah, New Jersey and Georgia. A slew of legal battles have brewed, as Tesla Motors would like to sell its vehicles directly to consumers, effectively bypassing dealerships.

We reported last week that Tesla Motors planned to open a gallery store in Salt Lake City, UT last week, but was prevented from doing so. The state attorney general’s office sent Tesla Motors a letter informing them they don’t qualify as an entity that can sell cars since they aren’t a franchised dealer. An attempt to pass a HB 394 in the Utah House to allow direct-to-consumer auto sales also failed. Part of the reasoning was that dealers in Utah provide a lot of sales tax revenue. According to an article by FOX13, Rep. Ken Ivory R- UT said,

While Tesla’s fortunes are looking down in Utah, they seem to be improving in New Jersey. The Garden state made headlines last spring when the state motor vehicle commission prevented Tesla from selling directly to consumers. However, yesterday, the state commerce committee passed a bill, which would allow Tesla to sell directly-to-consumers in New Jersey. The bill now heads to the Senate, and if passed, to the desk of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for signature. In a town hall meeting reported on by NJ.com Christie spoke out about the Tesla issue. In response to an audience question, Christie said, “I have no problem with Tesla selling directly to customers, except that it’s against the law in New Jersey. What they were asking for was an exception from the law. I’m not the king. I don’t get to grant exceptions to the law.”

Down south in Georgia, Tesla Motors also ran into a legal battle last year. The state automobile dealers association filed a lawsuit claiming that Tesla had sold 173 vehicles in 2013, more than the 150 that they are allowed to sell. Tesla refuted that claim that they sold more than 150 vehicles and added that they aren’t a party to that law since it related to sales to dealerships. They furthermore stated most of their sales during that period were online, not originated at a gallery store.