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Breaking News: Pro-Tesla Motors bill dies in Texas House (Austin Business Journal)

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Just to throw my two cents in, this defeat is hardly a disaster for Tesla, just like the legislation in North Carolina isn't.

People underestimate the power of American mythology in the Tesla story. It's been a myth in America for decades now that "the car companies" and the "oil companies" have been conspiring to destroy promising new companies and technologies. In every part of the country, the legend of the lone inventor building a new kind of car that can run on water or potatoes (or whatever) is practically universal. Fundamentally, its an outlaw genius who is being suppressed by the government or Big Oil, or Detroit, and usually all three.

In Texas and much of the South a related mythology often is expressed with tales about outlaw Moonshiners defying the authorities and outracing the cops in their Moonshine powered home built hot rods. Make no mistake, the Moonshine powered hot rods are a key part of the story. A crafty outlaw driving a better car, powered by something better than oil, being oppressed by "The Man."

I could go on and on about the American ideal of fairness, or the tendency to root for an underdog, and even more ancient strands of outlaw mythology. Preston Tucker is a hero for a reason. John Delorean isn't any kind of hero (although there were plenty of popular conspiracy theories explaining his fall), but there is a reason that Hollywood slapped a fusion generator into a Delorean and ended up with a megahit movie.

So from my point of view, these types of obviously unfair moves by many of the states are probably some of the most effective advertising for Tesla in the history of advertising. North Carolina is not a critical market for Tesla. Under current law Tesla is doing ok in Texas regardless. The only practical effect of these moves is to help Tesla build up an enormous level of street cred with the American people as Tesla becomes a living avatar of outlaw genius legends.

Agree 100%. Tesla is getting so much extra word-of-mouth advertising. I was worried about the NYTimes too, but eventually thought that any press is good press when you don't have much brand recognition and only 20,000 reservations.

By the time Margaret Sullivan was helping bandage knees and kiss boo-boos, Tesla was the "outlaw hero" vanquishing big media.
 
I'm with Kruggerand on this one. The retribution approach is low road, counterproductive, and petty. Pick the best place -- for SpaceX -- and roll with it. Muddying the decision with Elon's personal and/or professional relationships with Tesla and/or SolarCity is a bad idea.
 
Some of the comments on the stories about this online had marvelous descriptors for car dealerships. The best one: "universally despised". I thought "man, how true!" The ONLY way dealer associations come out temporarily on top of this is to have already pre-purchased state legislators and/or legislatures. And they have. Believe me, it's a done deal in Utah. Will take time to remedy.
Meanwhile, as CapOpp (& others) have pointed out, this is nearly ONLY GOOD for Tesla. ML
 
Mr.Musk,

Bring your Tesla truck factory and Tesla stores to Maryland, we love capitalism, freedom, and jobs. And as I drive to work everyday, I can tell you are selling quite a few Model Ses around here.

It's Texas' loss. Texans will continue to buy their Teslas from California and maybe soon from surrounding states and jobs will be created in Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, etc.
 
I was surprised this even made it to the bill stage in the legislature. The Texas legislative process is twisted and perverse. It is all about lobbyists and business interests. Do you really think seeing a few Teslas at the Capitol trumps thousands of car dealers calling into their representatives offices to voice their opposition?

Texas politicians are not rocket scientists. I'll give you three examples, Rick Perry ,and , uh, uh, uh , uh.

Reform will need to be accomplished by non-legislative means. Either a Federal lawsuit, or simply the current method of direct delivery until Texas realizes how far behind it has become. You're right, most Texans are not stupid, but they do have a fear about looking stupid.

Once the stupidity of the current law is more obvious and more public, it will become history. It's up to Tesla to demonstrate that, by its actions successfully selling cars and servicing its customers, without any dealers.

I'm betting it will take 6-8 years in Texas. Nothing ever happens first try here.
 
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I was surprised this even made it to the bill stage in the legislature. The Texas legislative process is twisted and perverse. It is all about lobbyists and business interests. Do you really think seeing a few Teslas at the Capitol trumps thousands of car dealers calling into their representatives offices to voice their opposition?

Texas politicians are not rocket scientists. I'll give you three examples, Rick Perry ,and , uh, uh, uh , uh.

Reform will need to be accomplished by non-legislative means. Either a Federal lawsuit, or simply the current method of direct delivery until Texas realizes how far behind it has become. You're right, most Texans are not stupid, but they do have a fear about looking stupid.

Once the stupidity of the current law is more obvious and more public, it will become history. It's up to Tesla to demonstrate that, by its actions successfully selling cars and servicing its customers, without any dealers.

I'm betting it will take 6-8 years in Texas. Nothing ever happens first try here.

I find it difficult to believe that the gallery representative at the Tesla store doesn't sometimes hint at what the cost is or try to sell people on the car. I mean... they literally have tablets all over the place when I visited. All they have to do is, "Unfortunately we cannot speak to the cost of the model S due to state restrictions, however you can investigate on your own online" *hands tablet to Tesla Build Site*
 
So, the legislation just didn't make it to the floor correct? Wasn't there a stipulation in the bill that passed the committee that made it effective in September if it wasn't specifically rejected in the house? Did I completely misread that?

Unfortunately not. It would have gone into effect immediately if 2/3s of both houses approved it. If it was only passed with greater than 50%, it would go into effect in September. It can't become law, if it doesn't make the floor for a vote.
 
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I find it difficult to believe that the gallery representative at the Tesla store doesn't sometimes hint at what the cost is or try to sell people on the car. I mean... they literally have tablets all over the place when I visited. All they have to do is, "Unfortunately we cannot speak to the cost of the model S due to state restrictions, however you can investigate on your own online" *hands tablet to Tesla Build Site*

They didn't do that when I visited. The store manager asked for my mobile phone number. A few minutes later a gentleman from Denver called me. He told me prices and took my order. The store manager made suggestions about options while I was on the phone. For example I was going to order the 21 in wheels and he suggested the brown Model S would look great with grey wheels. He said that the grey wheels weren't available except in the performance model. The same situation occurred with the carbon fiber in the interior.

I am fairly certain that nobody in the Tesla Galleria store will come close to bending rules. The same is true for following rules at the Houston Service Center. They are very careful!
 
They didn't do that when I visited. The store manager asked for my mobile phone number. A few minutes later a gentleman from Denver called me. He told me prices and took my order. The store manager made suggestions about options while I was on the phone. For example I was going to order the 21 in wheels and he suggested the brown Model S would look great with grey wheels. He said that the grey wheels weren't available except in the performance model. The same situation occurred with the carbon fiber in the interior.

I am fairly certain that nobody in the Tesla Galleria store will come close to bending rules. The same is true for following rules at the Houston Service Center. They are very careful!


How did you get a test drive?
 
I find it difficult to believe that the gallery representative at the Tesla store doesn't sometimes hint at what the cost is or try to sell people on the car. I mean... they literally have tablets all over the place when I visited. All they have to do is, "Unfortunately we cannot speak to the cost of the model S due to state restrictions, however you can investigate on your own online" *hands tablet to Tesla Build Site*

In a true story, I was at a Carl's Jr the other day when my friend and I ordered the same meal from two separate persons who were side by side, at the same time. He had a card that allows for the person named on the card to a slight discount off the meal. I have the same card but did not bring it. The person serving me refused to budge and said that she could strictly only apply the discount if the card holder was the customer and that his standing beside me does not count.

Very well, I slid my cash across the counter to my friend and told her - no problem, he'll pay you for the order with this money which I'm just gonna pass to him so it's gonna become his order now. Upon doing that, it started to hold up the line behind me since he was busy adding "side orders" on his side. She finally realised this was dumb and reached over to take the cash herself and applied the discount immediately.
 
For those of you unfamiliar with Texas politics, we have a legal way to contribute enormous amounts to political causes, and the recipients don't have to acknowledge who the real donors are.

If you are a Texas politician, you can get any political donations via a nonprofit 501c4 organization. The organization is the one who actually donates the money to you. And the 501c4 is allowed to keep its donors secret. So essentially political donations in Texas occur in secret.

This situation stinks to high heaven so badly that this years Texas legislature passed a bill requiring disclosure of donations over $1000.

Our illustrious governor for life vetoed it, probably because he wants to run again for an unprecedented 4th elected term in 2014. He is on record as saying that he won't run, instead wanting to focus on the 2016 presidential race, but this clearly indicates that he wants the capability of getting secret donations to remain for the next governors race.

A Republican senator, Kel Seliger, commented on the veto "This is a sad day for integrity and transparency in Texas. Governor Perry’s veto of SB 346 legalizes money laundering in Texas elections. The Governor’s veto is ironic since money laundering is illegal in other endeavors. As other states have stepped forward to ban election money laundering by dark money 501c4 non-profit corporations, it is embarrassing that the Lone Star state is now an official safe haven for political money launderers."

This money is on top of open sources such as the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, and you can see their money flow at http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=3193&y=0 .

There are 285 Texas legislators who are recipients of auto dealer money. I'm sure that all Texans can find their districts legislators in the list. Note that it is SIX pages long, you need to click on the page number to get the next page.
 
If Rick Perry and Elon Musk ever sit down at a table together, this would be a great video to show before the conversation re: selling Tesla cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARDfHfMxy8Q


(I live in Austin, BTW)

This needs to be brought back for any election this guy is in:

Hypocrisy.png
 
I find it difficult to believe that the gallery representative at the Tesla store doesn't sometimes hint at what the cost is or try to sell people on the car. I mean... they literally have tablets all over the place when I visited. All they have to do is, "Unfortunately we cannot speak to the cost of the model S due to state restrictions, however you can investigate on your own online" *hands tablet to Tesla Build Site*
I can't speak to Texas gallery store but I know that the Valley Forge, PA. store staff follow the rules to the letter. Pennsylvania law restricts sales of cars on Sundays. So, at that store, even though the store is open...all brochures with price are removed, no price discussion (people are referred to the internet site), and no test drives. I asked if they could bend the rules....They replied that Tesla has a strict policy during these times when the anti-Tesla forces are looking for excuses to close them down/slow then down that they adhere to all local laws without exception.
 
Can someone put this situation into simple words where exactly is the problem?
How is TX government stopping some Joe from TX going on the internets, asking TM 'gimme one' and then walking to the bank to pay for the car directly on TM account?

1. You have to pony up for the sales tax rather than have it included in the financing. This will put off more than a few folks.

2. A Telsa Ranger can't service your car at your home.

3. You have to call California and then they have to contact the service centre to get service. More importantly, they also have to perform the service as if it were in California.

4. The galleries can't talk about pricing or financing.

5. Tesla can't provide test drives.