The law did not carve out an "exception for automakers of exclusively electric vehicles". The author of the article apparently did not read the law, but must've reinterpreted internet articles in the manner of the telephone game. There's much of that nowadays. Of course, the headline writer mentioned only Tesla as clickbait.
DeSantis Signs Bill Blocking Direct-To-Consumer Car Sales (With A Carveout For Tesla)
You'll be shocked to hear that dealer lobbyists support the bill.jalopnik.com
I’m glad they carved out an exception for automakers of exclusively electric vehicles, but it seems like that could be challenged by ICE manufacturers, (to allow for direct sales), or ICE dealers, to disallow direct sales of electric vehicles).
Don’t read the last paragraph, it is too political.
The law carved out an exception for automakers that have never had franchised dealerships. It just happens to be that those are almost entirely exclusive makers of EVs. The main point of the law is that automakers who have contracted with their own franchised dealerships are not allowed to compete directly with them.
The original bill did not have exceptions. I wrote my governor and two state legislators imploring them to except automakers that have never had franchised dealerships. There must've been others chiming in on that, including Tesla. Meanwhile, a few other states allow no such exceptions.
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