Electric vehicle makers ask lawmakers to sell directly to customers in Connecticut

Tesla and other electric vehicle makers asked Monday for the right to sell directly to customers. Currently, customers can only buy a vehicle through a local dealer, meaning Tesla buyers have to pick up their cars in New York, which keeps the sales tax.

News 12 Staff

Mar 15, 2022, 1:18 AM

Updated 934 days ago

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There is a new push to make electric cars easier to buy in the state.
Tesla and other electric vehicle makers asked Monday for the right to sell directly to customers. Currently, customers can only buy a vehicle through a local dealer, meaning Tesla buyers have to pick up their cars in New York, which keeps the sales tax.
"It allows Connecticut to join 22 other states that allow all EV-only, non-franchised manufacturers like Rivian, Lucid, Tesla to invest in brick-and-mortar dealerships in Connecticut," said Kaitlin Monaghan, of Rivian Motors.
Some legislators were not open to the idea presented Monday.
"Why can't electric vehicle car manufacturers just get in line with the other car dealers that we have here and use the system that we have now?"
For years, car dealers have successfully defeated this legislation.
Electric car makers say it costs too much to go through franchised dealers.