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I wonder if Tesla could somehow circumvent these laws. Open a fake mailbox company in another state. Sell them the cars at production cost, and let that compan
by captainmuon 12y ago
I wonder if Tesla could somehow circumvent these laws.
Open a fake mailbox company in another state. Sell them the cars at production cost, and let that company "import" them.
Actually open a dealership (using another company). This probably won't work, as there might be a lot of red tape involved. Possibly there is a limited number of concessions, or some other hurdle, otherwise they would have done that.
Using middlemen, put Teslas on eBay, Craigslist, etc.. Make it somebody else's problem to deal with.
My favorite: Don't sell cars at first. Just do car shows, Tesla parades, Nikola Tesla tribute parties, and so on. Visit schools and communities and tell people how good electric cars can be for the environment. Partner with schools and driving instructors to get kids to learn driving in Teslas. Get as many people as possible to test-drive one. That's the most important thing. Then just happen to have a iPad around so people can order one :-).
There might be a law preventing them from even selling them over the internet into many states - I don't know if the laws only apply to physical stores or not - but in this case they could fall back to relying on the black market. At least for a while, while they get the legislation sorted out.
Last but not least (and only half seriously) try to frame the current laws as "communist". I picture an ad with thin, sad people in fur hats, waiting in a long line for their car, with hammer-and-sickle ration coupons in their hands. Contrast it with happy free people riding around in their Teslas under the Californian sun. Unfortunately, that might even work.
- MichaelGG 12y agoTesla already does such things. In many places, they don't "sell" cars. They talk about them, then let you go buy them yourself, perhaps on a computer they happen to have setup right there in the "store". In Denver's Park Meadows mall, on Sunday they have a big sign saying the State of Colorado prohibits them from "selling", so come on in and sell it to yourself.
- johnward 12y agoI wasn't even sure you could actually buy through a Tesla store. I think they just direct you to the website. I took a test drive of a Model S P85 this weekend and they didn't even discuss the sale just wanted to know what I though overall. Then today someone contacted me about purchasing. I can't afford a Model S anyway but I am not very interested in used Model S lease returns or the Model 3.
- toomuchtodo 12y agoWhen you buy through the website, either in store or at home, the sale technically takes place in California.