Washington wants more electric vehicles on the road. It’s offered generous incentives for EV buyers and set deadlines barring new gasoline-powered car sales.
The next step, some say, is revising a law that does not allow customers to buy an electric vehicle directly from the automaker, instead forcing them to go through a dealership.
There’s one notable exception: Tesla.
The electric carmaker, founded and led by billionaire Elon Musk, can make direct sales in Washington due to an exemption obtained a decade ago. At that time, it was the lone electric vehicle manufacturer seeking access to the market.
Legislation filed by Democrat and Republican state lawmakers would lift the ban on direct sales, putting firms like Rivian and Lucid on equal footing with Tesla when it comes to how they transact with consumers.