from Hacker News

Governor Snyder signs a law to ban Tesla direct sales in Michigan

by infinitebattery on 10/21/14, 7:52 PM with 55 comments

• by MCRed on 10/21/14, 8:17 PM

  I believe that this law is in direct violation of the commerce clause[1]. The commerce clause was designed to prevent tarrifs from being placed on products from one state being sold in another state. They wanted to prevent inter-state trade wars. Being forced to go thru a dealer network that (theoretically) adds no value while extracting a cut of sales is a form of a tarrif (or at least, I think it is arguably one).

  Therefore, I think it might be time for Tesla to take this up as a federal matter.

  I believe Tesla's constitutional rights are being violated in the states that do not allow them to operate their own stores.[2]

  [1] "Congress shall have the power to regulate commerce ... among the several states ..." At the time the constitution was written, the definition of regulate was something like "to keep free of obstruction, to allow to occur without hinderance".

  [2] This is completely separate from regulations that require car stores to operate safely, e.g.: if the state required that service departments have barriers around pits to keep people from falling in, that would be fine, and Tesla could comply when they open a service department. But forcing a business model on people is quite different from protecting public safety.

• by piyush_soni on 10/21/14, 8:18 PM

  In the country I come from, corruption is rampant, and it makes governments create anti-public, pro-corporations laws and regulations. But there it's still called "corruption". Here, in US, it is called "Lobbying", and is official.

• by sbenario on 10/21/14, 8:11 PM

  Another example of regulation being used to protect older, more established businesses from newer entrants that would supplant them.

  Sigh.

• by duaneb on 10/21/14, 8:18 PM

  How are these people justifying these changes to their constituents? It's pretty hard to justify mucking with the free markets except to protected vested interests. Most of the time, these vested interests have very little to do with the voters.

• by Falkon1313 on 10/21/14, 9:14 PM

  Can craftsmen and other non-auto manufacturers sell directly in Michigan, or are they also forced to hire distributors and retailers? What crime is that law supposed to prevent?

• by yock on 10/21/14, 8:25 PM

  Snyder gets a lot of money from Ford, GM, et. al.

  The United Auto Workers gave the DGA about $1 million, according to MCFN. The union was the largest donor from Michigan, followed by the Service Employees International Union, the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters, Ford Motor Company and Caidan Management. http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2014/10/michigan...

• by rabbyte on 10/21/14, 11:06 PM

  Couldn't somebody open a dealership that offers Tesla vehicles where dealers are replaced with touch screens that walk you through all the available options, scheduling test drives, and settling on payment? Staff would be there to make sure questions are answered, machines are operating properly, and verifying paperwork. I know nothing about this industry so I could be totally off base but that seems like a decent way to jab back at an aging system.

• by mark-r on 10/21/14, 8:48 PM

  Does this really surprise anybody? Remember which state Detroit is in?

• by mandeepj on 10/21/14, 8:17 PM

  What is his problem? I think they are all trying every-possible-trick-under-their-belly to slow down the storm called TESLA. The day TESLA becomes mainstream the mafia of car dealers, oil rigs will go down the drain. NO MORE OIL.

• by padobson on 10/21/14, 9:56 PM

  Anybody want to start a Tesla dealership in Dearborn?