Connecticut is considering legislation that would permit the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) directly to consumers. Outdated dealer franchise laws have been used as protectionism to prevent Tesla and other new EV manufacturers from opening stores in this state. They are hearing from dealer franchisees who think that direct to consumer sales of EVs by Tesla, Rivian, Lucid and others is going to hurt their business. Those arguments are not supported by industry data collected and reported by states that allowed direct sales. It actually shows that everyone does better when there is more competition.

SB 127 would allow the direct sale of EVs to consumers in Connecticut. This would help us get back on track to meet our state’s EV deployment goals. The bill proposes that manufacturers that produce exclusively electric vehicles and have no existing franchised dealer network be permitted to sell their vehicles directly to the consumer.

Please contact your state legislators by phone and email asking them to support SB 127, now with the Transportation Committee. A list of Transportation Committee members can be found at cga.ct.gov/tra. Find your legislators at cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/cgafindleg.asp.

For more information, visit Sustainne.com. See ad, page 8.