The North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has denied Tesla Motors’ application to sell its electric cars at a new store near Charlotte.
State law says automakers can’t sell their cars directly to consumers, unless they get an exception and show it’s in the public interest. That’s what Tesla tried to do. But nearby dealers objected. So did the state auto dealers association.
Which leads to:
After the dealers objected, the DMV held a two-day hearing earlier this month in Matthews.
In siding with the dealers, DMV hearing officer Larry Green said Tesla failed to make its case for an exception. Among other things, he decided that three of the four dealers who were willing to sell Tesla’s cars are qualified to do so.
