We must make it easier to buy electric vehicles

In “Direct sale of electric vehicles is the right choice,” March 30, Anne Reynolds makes an excellent economic and climate case for removing New York’s restrictions on direct sales by electric vehicle manufacturers. The nearest Tesla showroom to me is in Mount Kisco in Westchester County, 325 miles away. Upstate consumers deserve greater access to electric vehicles, and not only Teslas.

But this access will happen only with passage of a law recently introduced in Albany by Sen. Todd Kaminsky and Assembly member Pat Fahy. The proposed legislation would break the blockade of auto dealerships. It deserves overwhelming support in the Legislature and to be signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

We need this law to help increase purchases of all

electric vehicles in New York, where we are far from the goal of registering 800,000 electric vehicles by 2025. We also need increased incentives or perks for purchasing electric vehicles and accelerating the deployment of charging infrastructure. Cuomo should act within his policy-making power to make those happen.

We also need incentives to electrify trucks and buses. Legislative tools to help do that await action in Albany and should also be given broad support and swift enactment.

Times have changed. At last, the federal and New York political landscapes are aligned in favor of electric vehicles and generating the clean energy to power them. I am hoping for genuine progress in this legislative season. Patrick Ho

Hilton President, Tesla Owners

Club New York State