4 ms·

Great news yes, but there are other states that are still big problems. Among them, one that the media appears to not even know about: New Mexico (maybe they d

Great news yes, but there are other states that are still big problems. Among them, one that the media appears to not even know about: New Mexico (maybe they don't realize it's a state). In NM, the NMADA (New Mexico Automobile Dealers Association) has basically crafted the laws such that no manufacturer can have a single store OR service center anywhere in the state. All have to be franchises. Because, you know, we have to protect the dealer franchises, otherwise we might have better consumer choice and better consumer experiences and that would be a nightmare. If one owns a Tesla in New Mexico, and ever needs service, a Ranger has to drive down from Denver. If they're available. If the weather cooperates. Range anxiety? Meh. RANGER anxiety is a huge problem. Imagine finding out you could not buy an iPhone or even find a Genius Bar in the State of New Mexico because the franchises selling other mobile phones had bought the legislature and banned iPhone from the state. That's the situation with Tesla. And nobody knows about it, and nobody seems to be doing a damn thing about it.

mikeash 12y ago
I thought maybe this had changed, since Tesla's "Find Us" map has a "Coming Soon" service center in Albuquerque. Upon further research, it looks like that's just an expression of desire and optimism on Tesla's part, and they're still not actually legally permitted to build one.
- brianstorms 12y ago
  Nope. That "coming soon" is wrapped in an Elon-style reality distortion field and should be interpreted as "we intend to have one there one day." What they don't tell you is they cannot open it. And that there is NO WAY it is opening soon. How do I know? Well, I contacted the Governor of New Mexico's office, and I contacted the Global VP of Sales/Service at Tesla. That got me a call from a Tesla regional manager who told me plainly, "New Mexico is worse than Texas" and that the laws are set up in such a way that there isn't much that can be done. The law on the books states that the dealerships are protected by the force of the State Police and should any young whippersnapper auto manufacturer, say, Tesla, come sneakin' into town and try to set up shop, well the dealers will be there with the full force of the state government behind them, to make sure Tesla crawls back into the hole it came from . . . in some other state. The New Mexico legislature won't consider new proposed laws until Jan 2016. You can bet I will be working on my representative in Santa Fe to introduce a meaningful law modeled after the legislation recently passed in other states that has allowed Tesla to do business including service its existing customers. It is remarkable how protectionist these auto dealers are. They're staring into the future and the future is staring right back, and the future has no sympathy. They must know they're on the wrong side of history. They don't care.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    I think I may have come across a forum post from you when looking at what was actually going on there. Good for you for pushing against the dealers. This stuff seems to be changing at a (relatively, for political stuff) rapid pace at the moment. NJ now, looks like CT soon, VA just relented a bit and allowed a store, and it looks like things are moving in Texas. Maybe seeing other states ditch these laws will help push things in New Mexico.
  - neurotech1 12y ago
    All it would take is a major aerospace company to come to the state with engineers who drive Tesla cars and the law could change relatively quickly. SpaceX haven't expanded significantly in NM, and this might partly be the reason.

mikeash 12y ago

I thought maybe this had changed, since Tesla's "Find Us" map has a "Coming Soon" service center in Albuquerque. Upon further research, it looks like that's just an expression of desire and optimism on Tesla's part, and they're still not actually legally permitted to build one.

brianstorms 12y ago
Nope. That "coming soon" is wrapped in an Elon-style reality distortion field and should be interpreted as "we intend to have one there one day." What they don't tell you is they cannot open it. And that there is NO WAY it is opening soon. How do I know? Well, I contacted the Governor of New Mexico's office, and I contacted the Global VP of Sales/Service at Tesla. That got me a call from a Tesla regional manager who told me plainly, "New Mexico is worse than Texas" and that the laws are set up in such a way that there isn't much that can be done. The law on the books states that the dealerships are protected by the force of the State Police and should any young whippersnapper auto manufacturer, say, Tesla, come sneakin' into town and try to set up shop, well the dealers will be there with the full force of the state government behind them, to make sure Tesla crawls back into the hole it came from . . . in some other state. The New Mexico legislature won't consider new proposed laws until Jan 2016. You can bet I will be working on my representative in Santa Fe to introduce a meaningful law modeled after the legislation recently passed in other states that has allowed Tesla to do business including service its existing customers. It is remarkable how protectionist these auto dealers are. They're staring into the future and the future is staring right back, and the future has no sympathy. They must know they're on the wrong side of history. They don't care.
- mikeash 12y ago
  I think I may have come across a forum post from you when looking at what was actually going on there. Good for you for pushing against the dealers. This stuff seems to be changing at a (relatively, for political stuff) rapid pace at the moment. NJ now, looks like CT soon, VA just relented a bit and allowed a store, and it looks like things are moving in Texas. Maybe seeing other states ditch these laws will help push things in New Mexico.
- neurotech1 12y ago
  All it would take is a major aerospace company to come to the state with engineers who drive Tesla cars and the law could change relatively quickly. SpaceX haven't expanded significantly in NM, and this might partly be the reason.