Tesla White House petition rises above 75k: aims for free trade in USA
There's a petition out there in Washington summond by the public on behalf of Tesla Motors, and as of the first of July, it's reached 75,000 of the 100k it needs to be seen. While the end result of the petition gaining its full set of signatures isn't entirely clear*, the sheet's aim is this: allow Tesla – and all other vehicle manufacturers – to sell their vehicles direct to consumers. At the moment, if you did not know, 48 states in the USA restrict or prohibit direct sales between automobile manufacturers and consumers.
The reason these laws are in place is to keep car dealers in business – and to "protect consumers", of course. These laws prohibit Tesla from selling the electric vehicle Model S to consumers in many states, forcing them to seek sales in restricted areas to bypass the middle-man. Tesla and this particular petition suggest that 3rd party dealers would need to increase the price of the vehicle to sell it (of course), and would continue to favor gasoline cars and trucks over the electric vehicle on the whole.
"States should not be allowed to prevent Tesla Motors from selling cars directly to customers. The state legislators are trying to unfairly protect automobile dealers in their states from competition. Tesla is providing competition, which is good for consumers." – We The People Tesla Motors petition
At the moment, the Tesla petition is up to 77,696 signatures, while the final amount needs to be reached by the 5th of July.
*While the We the People portal through to the White House does make a general statement about what happens when a petition reaches 100,000 signatures, it's not always a solid set of steps that are taken at said point.
"If a petition gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it's sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response."
That said, even the Death Star petition received a response, titled in that case "This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For."