Luxury electric car maker Tesla faces hurdles on way to mass-market goals

WITHIN theh wallsll of f theh Teslal store at Easton, customers will tell you that the maker of all-electric vehicles can do just about anything.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever driven,” said Don Johnson, 59, who owns a Tesla Model S sedan and was looking at the Model X crossover.

get a major test. California-based Tesla aimed at the middle of the market, with at about $35,000.

The new model, like other Tesla vehicles, will be sold through a network of been fought by traditional auto dealers across the country. As a result, Tesla stores are banned in six states and severely restricted in others, including Ohio.

- tion into the mainstream.

of the model this month in Fremont, toward a goal of making 20,000 Model said that more than 370,000 customers are on a waiting list for the model, which

“The whole thing is something we have never seen before,” said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst for Edmunds. com, of Tesla’s move from a boutique maker of luxury electric vehicles to one

- lenge Tesla faces, said Peter Ward, a dean at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University.

“Since the [Ford] Model T, cars have like two shifts with two lines running si

- ting all of that right is about the hardest thinghi thereh Ward said. isi to dod ini manufacturing,”f i ”

Analogy not with cars

The closest analogy for Tesla’s situation might not be in the automotive - nies being unable to make the transition to a low- cost, massmarket model.

The shift toward the mass market has widely available. The Model S made its debut in 2012 to rave reviews, followed

with those of other automakers. Last vehicles to customers, a US market share

That was fewer than luxury brands such as Porsche, which had a market share of

billion, just below GM’s $54.3 billion.

Clearing challenges

Tesla was founded by Elon Musk, an

Cincinnati areas, led to a backlash from the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association.

Other automakers sell through a net that system, raising concerns that other

in the General Assembly. The auto dealers it now has, but no more.

It was a better deal than Tesla got in some other State Legislatures.

- strictions by calling its outlet a “gallery” and directing than 90 stores or galleries in the United States.

you haven’t seen or heard anything,” said Zach Doran,

Brady Berlin of Westerville, 36, leader of the Ohio

“The best way to get an American to buy something is to tell him he can’t buy it,” Berlin said.

increase sales.

Berlin, an information- technology consultant, long run because of the strength of the brand. For

fossil fuels. However, a small but growing share of changes the equation entirely.

“I want things better for my kids,” Berlin said. “I want things better for my grandkids.”

Customer support

Back at the Easton store, Johnson, the Model S owner, likes what he sees in the Model X, a crossover with three rows of seating.

Johnson lives in the Rochester, New York, area and was in Columbus

- already drive Tesla vehicles.

Sometimes, the current drivers are almost like the sales staff, striking brand that Tesla will need as it releases the Model 3.

- ing a Tesla. “It’s a wonderful thing to do.”