North Carolina Attempts to Ban Tesla

[skinnay 0]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/13/north_carolina_tesla_ban_bill_would_prevent_unfair_competition_with_car.html

[quade 3]

I was rooting for the Luddites, but I guess the Protectionists came in first.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[jgoose71 0]

This has already happened in a couple other states. It's not a red or a blue thing, it's a green thing by the dealerships.

Tesla, wants to sell it's cars directly to the public. The third party dealerships say they want their cut, and to sell tesla's. The dealerships are claiming some kind of unfair advantage and market pricing schemes (I can't remember all the details).

Tesla is saying that being an electric car, they are in a separate market and don't feel that conventional dealers, either unintentionally, or maliciously, would market their car properly.

Either way, it will be interesting. If I remember rightly, I think telsa won the first round of battles in Texas. A quick google search could probably get the rest of the story.

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

[sfzombie13 307]

i don't think i am familiar with the rules that say dealers are not allowed to sell directly to the public. can anyone enlighten me?

_________________________________________
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

[labrys 0]

Quote

i don't think i am familiar with the rules that say dealers are not allowed to sell directly to the public. can anyone enlighten me?

Where did that come from?

Owned by Remi #?

[billvon 2,426]

Something similar happened to beer. Breweries cannot sell their beer directly to restaurants or stores; they have to sell them through dealers. For a long time in San Diego this effectively kept small brewers out of the market because the distributors didn't want to deal with small brewers.

Then Greg Koch from Stone started his own distributorship specifically to deal with this problem and accepted beer from any brewery. The problem effectively went away.

If North Carolina pushes it, that might be the (silly but perhaps necessary) solution - create Tesla Dealers Inc which is a separate company consisting of one guy in an office who "officially" sells the car.

[quade 3]

Conservatives always go on about letting the free market decide, right up to the point somebody else comes up with a way of beating them, then they're all about protectionism.

Hilarious.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kelpdiver 2]

sfzombie13

i don't think i am familiar with the rules that say dealers are not allowed to sell directly to the public. can anyone enlighten me?

the 'justification' came from an argument that cars require nearby servicing options and that the middle distributor, aka the dealer, is capable of providing it. If car makers could just sell direct, this need wouldn't be met.

Tesla has tried to dance past this with legislation that only exempts electric cars, arguing that their service need are much less (which is true - far fewer parts). To challenge the direct sale rule itself would pit them against a lot of dealers and a lot of employed people in each state.

[sfzombie13 307]

labrys

Where did that come from?

it came from reading the article.

and to the other posters who actuually answered the question, thank you.

_________________________________________
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

[labrys 0]

Quote

and to the other posters who actuually answered the question, thank you.

The article discussed the fact that the *manufacturer* couldn't sell directly to the public. Both the people who answered you explained why manufacturers face problems selling directly to the public.

Neither one answered your question about *dealers* being able to sell directly to the public.

That's the question I had. Where does anything in the article say anything about rules regarding who a dealer can sell to?

Owned by Remi #?

[jakee 1,257]

He mistyped. That's all.

(Ironically the same mistake made in an article about selling Teslas in Texas that the OP's article linked to.)

((Is that ironic? Probably not. But does anyone use 'ironically' properly anymore anyway?))

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[kawisixer01 0]

quade

Conservatives always go on about letting the free market decide, right up to the point somebody else comes up with a way of beating them, then they're all about protectionism.

Hilarious.

No libertarians promote free markets and the govt staying out of business, and people confuse libertarians with conservatives because they may have one or two beliefs in common. Majority conservatives and majority Dems play the same tune. MORE govt, MORE market manipulation, MORE regulation. Just different flavors of the same crap, and the little guys lose all around.

[billvon 2,426]

> Just different flavors of the same crap, and the little guys lose all around.

I don't think the "little guys" of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, Pullman CO or the Bangladesh building collapse think that the free market is all that great.

Like many political "isms" there are some great ideas in libertarianism. Like all "isms," the pure, uncompromising version is fairly poisonous.

[mistercwood 287]

jakee

He mistyped. That's all.

(Ironically the same mistake made in an article about selling Teslas in Texas that the OP's article linked to.)

((Is that ironic? Probably not. But does anyone use 'ironically' properly anymore anyway?))

That's when you've got ten thousand spoons but all you need is a knife? Isn't that ironic? Don't you think?

You are playing chicken with a planet - you can't dodge and planets don't blink. Act accordingly.

[Andy9o8 0]

billvon

Like all "isms," the pure, uncompromising version is fairly poisonous.

Especially the new ones, like bigotism, for example. It was just invented today, but I'm sure it's ugly.

[billvon 2,426]

>But to say the free market is bad because of what happened a hundred years
>ago is the pinnacle of absurdity.

A completely unregulated free market is indeed pretty bad, as the above examples tend to demonstrate. Fortunately we've learned to eliminate some of the worst excesses.

[quade 3]

billvon

>But to say the free market is bad because of what happened a hundred years
>ago is the pinnacle of absurdity.

A completely unregulated free market is indeed pretty bad, as the above examples tend to demonstrate. Fortunately we've learned to eliminate some of the worst excesses.

And then shipped the jobs over seas where the laws don't apply.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[billvon 2,426]

>Triangle shirtwaist spured some serious reforms in this country and laws have
>some serious teeth. The labor laws in the US are written blood over decades.

Right. And that's an example of needed regulation that has resulted in laws with teeth. An example of "government getting into business" that worked.

I also agree that not all government meddling is good - and further that much of the recent meddling is actually harmful to businesses with either minor or no advantages to people in general. However, this is because such regulations are often implemented poorly, written poorly and/or enforced poorly, not because all regulation is bad.

> That's nite their job.

Well, as you point out above, sometimes it is.

[winsor 187]

quade

Conservatives always go on about letting the free market decide, right up to the point somebody else comes up with a way of beating them, then they're all about protectionism.

Hilarious.

The irony in the behavior of knee-jerk "conservatives" is on a par with that of knee-jerk "liberals."

Deal with it.

[winsor 187]

billvon

> Just different flavors of the same crap, and the little guys lose all around.

I don't think the "little guys" of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, Pullman CO or the Bangladesh building collapse think that the free market is all that great.

Like many political "isms" there are some great ideas in libertarianism. Like all "isms," the pure, uncompromising version is fairly poisonous.

The trick, of course, is trying to find a cure that is not significantly worse than the disease.

The difference between Organized Labor and Organized Crime is all too often a matter of nomenclature, at best.

[quade 3]

winsor

***Conservatives always go on about letting the free market decide, right up to the point somebody else comes up with a way of beating them, then they're all about protectionism.
Hilarious.

The irony in the behavior of knee-jerk "conservatives" is on a par with that of knee-jerk "liberals."
Deal with it.

Ah, the "I'm rubber, you're glue" strategy.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[sfzombie13 307]

quade

Ah, the "I'm rubber, you're glue" strategy.

no, it's actually not too far from the mark. knee jerk anything is usually a bad idea, except in some very isolated cases. like when you're hand is nearing a hot burner, etc. other than that, deliberation and exploring valid options is a much better way to deal with things. example: boston marathon bombings used a pressure cooker bomb, a saudi student gets harassed for carrying a pressure cooker full of food somewhere on campus. or: 9/11 attacks on wtc, invade afghanistan and iraq. or: ct school shootings, ban "assault weapons", even though it was not used but left in trunk. need more?

_________________________________________
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

[DanG 1]

Quote

knee jerk anything is usually a bad idea, except in some very isolated cases. like when you're hand is nearing a hot burner

In this situation I would recommend a 'hand jerk' response instead.

- Dan G

[winsor 187]

quade

******Conservatives always go on about letting the free market decide, right up to the point somebody else comes up with a way of beating them, then they're all about protectionism.
Hilarious.

The irony in the behavior of knee-jerk "conservatives" is on a par with that of knee-jerk "liberals."
Deal with it.

Ah, the "I'm rubber, you're glue" strategy.

Not hardly.

I'm saying there is not a dime's worth of difference between the pet concerns of the two extremes and their respective reactions. Your response says volumes.

[Bertt 0]

OK, here's a different way to say it. If I champion innovation in the marketplace and a reduction or elimination of regulations, then ask for regulations to protect me when someone's innovation gives them a competitive advantage over my interests, then I'm a fucking hypocrite and a damned liar.

You don't have to outrun the bear.