Tesla offers distribution facility in Connecticut
But state must first OK automaker’s plan to open its own stores
Tesla Motors Inc. has upped the ante in a bid to get Connecticut to open up its car market to direct sales of its electric vehicles, offering Monday to build a New England distribution center in the state if it approves the company’s plans to launch its own stores here.
Tesla said the distribution center, at an undetermined location, would add up to 150 jobs to the state’s economy within a year and a half. And the number of jobs would amount to about 275 total once Tesla opens the five stores statewide that it hopes will be approved by the General Assembly this year, the company said.
“Tesla is prepared to make a real and lasting commitment to Connecticut,” Will Nicholas, government relations manager at Tesla, said in a statement. “The jobs created by this facility, in addition to the jobs created at each and every store, are good paying jobs with good benefits.”
Connecticut failed to pass a bill last year that would have allowed Tesla to sell its cars in the state. A bill allowing a limited number of showrooms passed the House, but got hung up in the Senate as the state’s powerful auto-dealer lobby mounted a campaign against the measure.
A call and email to a spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy requesting comment did not immediately elicit a response. A spokesman for Tesla would not elaborate on the company’s offer.
Connecticut law currently prohibits the direct sale of vehicles by manufacturers because of fears that manufacturers are less likely than car
dealerships to honor lemon laws. But Tesla argues that the law is outdated, and the company said it wants to circumvent dealerships — at least initially — because it has a softer-sell approach to marketing and because traditional auto dealers are unlikely to take the time to explain the ins and outs of a Tesla when it is so much easier to push gas-powered vehicles.
Tesla, which has a service center in Milford, said a poll it conducted of 600 Connecti- cut residents earlier this year showed strong support for letting the California- based company sell cars in the state, with 76 percent in favor and 63 percent opposing a cap on the number of stores that should be allowed.
Tesla said each of its car showrooms employs about 25 people and contributes up to $10 million in direct economic impact, not to mention $1.7 million in sales-tax revenue. Sales personnel are full time, earning primarily a salary rather than the industry stan- dard heavy on commissions, the company said.
Employees earn between $40,000 and $100,000, receive full benefits and can get equity stakes in the company, Tesla added.
According to an interactive map at the Auto News website, New Hampshire is the only state in New England currently allowing the in-state sale of Teslas. A few hundred Teslas are registered in Connecticut, but owners have to buy the vehicles in another state.