Tesla's Pyrrhic Victory

As Frank Costanza might put it, "I got good news and bad news. And they're both the same": New Jersey has just made it legal for Tesla Motors to sell directly to individuals statewide. The bad news, which greatly outweighs the good, is that this move is in no way a lessening of the state's regulatory stranglehold on the automobile industry:

With Gov. Christie's action today, Tesla can turn its existing two New Jersey facilities into full-fledged Stores and open two additional stores. The bill requires Tesla to also open at least one dedicated service center in the state.

Got that? Tesla won't be selling directly to customers by right, but by permission. Notice the limited number of stores and the requirement that the company run a repair shop. Tesla left the adjective "Pyrrhic" out of its tweet announcing this decision. Anyone interested in buying any particular car ought to be able to purchase it from whomever he wants, so long as that person owns the car. It is wrong for the state to interfere in such a transaction, period.

And shame on Governor Christie for signing this bill. He plainly has no idea what a free market entails. The fact that he is also pandering to climate change hysteria merely adds insult to injury.

-- CAV

Updates

Today: Corrected wording of one sentence and deleted another..