Tesla builds first store on tribal land, dodging state car laws

The electric car maker can only freely sell and service its vehicles in a dozen states, while it faces restrictions in others. Some, like New Mexico, prohibit Tesla from offering sales or repairs without going through a dealership. In January, the company struck a deal with Michigan to resolve a lawsuit in 2016, a symbolic victory that saw it sell into the backyards of the nation’s biggest automakers.

Tesla supporters say the New Mexico store marks the first time the company has teamed up with a tribe to circumvent state laws, although the idea has been around for years.

From Oklahoma to Connecticut and other states, consumers can’t buy Tesla because the company won’t partner with dealers and has failed to convince courts or lawmakers to allow its model. direct sales.

“These states have a lot of sovereign Native American nations that might be interested in Tesla,” said Brian Dear, president of the Tesla Owners Club of New Mexico. “I don’t think this will be the last at all.”

New Mexico, Alabama, and Louisiana have the toughest bans, banning Tesla from operating dealerships and repair shops. This makes repairing a Tesla more expensive and more complicated. Owners should get their cars serviced in neighboring states or through on-the-go Tesla technicians who troubleshoot issues with what they have in a pickup truck.

New Mexico’s Tesla store, built on the site of a former casino, is nestled between two gas stations along a freeway about an hour and a half north of Albuquerque, where most of the owners live. Tesla from the state, Dear said.

While sales are banned in neighboring Texas – where the company plans to manufacture its pickup trucks next year – repair shops are permitted. Tesla owners in New Mexico have traveled to El Paso, Texas, or other out-of-state cities to get repairs.

To buy a Tesla, they have to drive hours to collect them or pay thousands of dollars to get them shipped.

“We drove a gasoline car – a Volvo station wagon – in Denver and then I was the ‘lucky one’ who got the gasoline car back,” said Howard Coe, a filmmaker who works for a lab in Los Alamos. , New Mexico, about 30 minutes from Nambé and about five hours from the nearest Colorado Tesla store.

Coe drove his wife’s Tesla sedan to the new Nambé store on Tuesday to ask if an SUV he ordered can be delivered there. The store told him it would not be accepting deliveries for the foreseeable future and would only complete the repairs later this month.

Tribal officials who negotiated the agreement over a two-year period say it aligns with business interests and cultural values ​​such as environmental protection.

The tribe “has responsibility for the land where we have resided for over 1,000 years,” said Carlos Vigil, president of the Nambé Pueblo Development Corporation, calling Tesla’s service center “a renewable business that matches our system. of beliefs “.

Car dealership advocates say they respect the tribe’s ruling, but hope customers buy electric cars from companies that follow state rules, arguing the dealerships compete to drive down prices and can service vehicles in more areas of the state.

“We have the competition, we have the expertise, we are in your local communities,” said Ken Ortiz, president of the New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association. “We contribute to taxes.

New Mexico has tax treaties with the tribe for sales, gambling, and gasoline taxes. But tribal and state officials say it’s unclear whether Tesla will have to pay taxes on vehicle sales or how the income would be distributed among them.

Tesla, which has disbanded its public relations department and generally does not respond to media inquiries, did not respond to a request for comment.

In response to a Tweet complaining about wait times in the Northeast last month, CEO Elon Musk wrote: “Tesla will speed up service center openings.”