18h

Tesla Service Centers on Tribal Land

So funny how Tesla got around these stupid laws. Here is an old article when they built the first center in NM.. Now a second huge facility is near Albuquerque. I'm sure Tesla is doing this in other states as well. https://apnews.com/article/technology-environment-and-nature-business-native-americans-pueblo-65235c11caa91c93ea845108f078b0b9

Nov 1, 2026

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Replies (4)

· 16h

I wonder how many states have laws like that? If I was in the dealership business, which has been incredibly lucrative for decades I’d be a little bit worried.

However, if you owned a Chevrolet or Cadillac dealership 40 years ago, you would think you were printing gold. Then it all pivoted where you bette have a Toyota. Dealership. Or German Car dealership. So I guess these guys are used to some amount of turmoil.

· 15h

The original intent of the law was to prevent manufacturers from competing with their own dealerships. For the new companies this is not an issue but the law seems to still apply. According to GROK about 14 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. New Mexico falls in this group (with the tribal-land workaround). Connecticut is similar and also uses a tribal-land approach

· 11h

Law needs to be adjusted for the modern world.

· 11h

These laws are specific to automobiles. They do not exist for any other product. Archaic now but if I owned a dealership I would be very keen on keeping the rules in place.