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Comment by nyxtom | Hacker News Reader

It's important to note that the rollout of the Model 3, along with other Tesla vehicles, is done in spite of many laws that are explicitly aimed at preventing the sale of Tesla vehicles. Many states completely hamstring the ability to sell EV cars directly and some states are downright hostile towards Tesla. Additionally, one has to consider the current administration's position on fuel economy standards and any company such as Tesla getting the leg up with subsidies. Which, according to Elon, would be completely fine to get rid of so long as we are getting rid of all subsidies (including the massive ones for Oil companies). In general, this is and always has been an uphill battle and rolling these products out to market is met with great enthusiasm but at the same time hostility from many states who see them as a threat.

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Is there any Tesla vehicle that doesn't have a waiting list?

I'm not disputing that some of the rules around auto sales are problematic, but it seems to me like the limiter on Tesla's ability to sell cars is its ability to produce them.

Hmm that is true. It's probably been said before, but the Model X definitely made things a lot more difficult to get to a rollout of the model 3.

"I'm not sure anyone should have made this car," he said at a press conference just hours before the first Model Xs were delivered to VIP customers."

""We probably should have just [modified the Model S]," he added. "There are so many more features and difficult to build parts on [the Model X] than it is necessary for us to sell the cars.""

> "We probably should have just [modified the Model S]"

This is one thing I really don't get about Tesla. Why haven't they made an estate-ish version of the Model S? I'm thinking along the lines of the Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake:

http://images.car.bauercdn.com/upload/28771/images/1752x1168...

It's a very nice looking car, and adds that little bit of luggage practicality that the Model S is missing. The aerodynamics aren't much worse than the coupe, so range shouldn't suffer very much.

That is the ugliest thing I've seen in a long time, more power to you if you like the appearance, but I can't seem them bringing in sales for that thing for the design.

I don't think it's uglier than the sedan but I wouldn't call it beautiful. VW makes really nice wagon versions of its golf (or Jetta depending on the year) and I don't see why Tesla couldn't have done something similar.

That thing is impressively ugly IMO. It's like a fun 2017 hatchback got involved with a 1960s station wagon

> Many states completely hamstring the ability to sell EV cars directly and some states are downright hostile towards Tesla.

This has nothing to do with EVs, it has to do with Tesla wanting to sell cars differently than anyone else sells cars. If Tesla wanted to do a dealer model they could certainly give it a go and be treated no differently than any other auto maker.

Their argument is that dealerships have no actual incentive to sell EV vehicles over other ICE vehicles given that franchises make most of their profit from servicing; as such this exposes quite a bit of unnecessary risk for Tesla or any EV maker for that matter. This is the primary argument in lobbying efforts that there should be an exception for EV vehicles in this case of similar laws.

"Tesla General Counsel Todd Maron argued that the automaker wouldn’t thrive under a franchise dealership model because independent dealers make most of their profit from servicing cars while electric cars have little long-term maintenance and fewer moving parts."

AIUI, unused Tesla parts are hard to come by and the expertise to actually service the vehicles is thin on the ground.

It is true that a Tesla dealership won't be able to charge for oil changes, but tires, suspension, interior fixes (e.g. power windows or that strange squeak) are still required.

It is an easy fix:. Don't charge much for the franchise given the alleged lower service volumes. How many would show up at a Tesla dealership and then be convinced to buy an ICE car? If possible, write the franchise agreement to prohibit colocation with other ICE brands.

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