Connecticut, climate change and consumers
Climate change is an existential threat to humanity. We are witnessing the devastating effects of droughts, wildfires and floods with increasing frequency and severity. Connecticut, along with Democratic-led states such as California and New York, has been at the vanguard of efforts to tackle the problem.
Connecticut has been at the forefront of attempts to increase utilization of renewable energy by giving incentives and rebates to consumers for electric vehicle and home solar energy adoption. One issue in which Connecticut has perplexingly taken a backseat is its refusal to allow direct sales of electric vehicles to consumers from innovative auto companies such as Tesla that have spearheaded the revolution in the shift away from fossil fuels. Unlike in states such as New York and New Jersey, a Connecticut resident who buys an electric vehicle online from Tesla is forced to travel to another state such as New York or Massachusetts to take possession of the vehicle. This is because Connecticut law only allows purchases of vehicles in Connecticut from franchised auto dealerships. This law has become entrenched, presumably due to the influence of the lobbying clout of auto dealership unions.
This puts an onerous burden on consumers. This inexplicable prohibition of direct sales to consumers is anathema to
free-market principles. It is an unreasonable obstacle that runs counter to one of the basic tenets of capitalism: the ability of consumers to buy desired goods unhindered from a seller. This also goes against Connecticut’s lawmakers and citizens’ long-standing commitment to mitigate and counter climate change.
Conceivably, there is a strong
resistance to change and a strong desire to preserve the status quo by the auto franchise dealership industry and lobby. Potential counterarguments include concern about jeopardizing jobs in the franchise auto dealership industry. This is, however, a specious argument because once direct sales restrictions are lifted, electric vehicle companies would establish their own
ecosystem of directly owned dealerships and service centers with employees hired locally. This would merely lead to a restructuring and shift of sales and service and technical jobs, with local residents being hired directly by the EV manufacturers. Existing consumer protection laws would be equally applicable to these EV dealers. Allowing pure EV makers to establish their own sales and service centers would also likely have other indirect benefits of expanding EV infrastructure such as EV charging stations.
The transportation committee has given its stamp of approval and the Connecticut House of Representatives has already passed legislation approving direct sales. The Connecticut Senate has yet to consider direct sales legislation.
It is high time that lawmakers enact legislation to permit direct sales from auto manufacturers that only produce electric vehicles. This would spur greater adoption of EV’S by state residents and would be consistent with Connecticut’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This also would result in greater choices for consumers, and stimulate healthy competition between legacy automakers and game-changing, disruptive, revolutionary entrants such as Tesla and Rivian. Increased sales of EV’S also would result in increased availability of capital and possible reinvestments in the local communities and secondary jobs in support industries. We can no longer afford to be beholden to interests blocking common-sense legislation.
Shreyas Gowdar lives with his family in South Windsor and is a hospitalist at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. He owns two Tesla vehicles and Tesla solar panels and says he is passionate about supporting efforts to transition to renewable energy.