Possible Texas store locations

Here is a grab:

Oft-overlooked factoid. . . Houston is the 4th largest city in the USA. Why is it taking so long, I wonder?

I also wonder how Tesla is going to work around the obnoxious dealership laws in Texas. Last I heard, it was illegal for car makers to sell directly to the public in Texas.

tonybelding said:

I also wonder how Tesla is going to work around the obnoxious dealership laws in Texas. Last I heard, it was illegal for car makers to sell directly to the public in Texas.

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It's my understanding that those laws are exactly why Tesla doesn't have any stores there. Georgia, and another state I've forgotten have these same types of laws.

Aren't there lots of Texas politicians always going on and on about the free market? It don't sound so free down there to me...

dsm363 said:

I've written to my state senator twice about this. It appears to be some law put in place to protect dealerships from competition. A bill to fix this was introduced last session (they only meet every 2 years here) but didn't make it out of committee. Texas is obviously an oil state and is really missing out on wind, solar and other green efforts from what I've gathered in the last year living here.

Dave

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Actually, Texas produces more electricity from wind power than any other state in the USA.

Texas, with 9,410 MW of capacity, has the most installed wind power capacity of any U.S. state, followed by Iowa with 3,053 MW.[2] The Roscoe Wind Farm (780 MW) in Texas is the world's largest wind farm.[8]

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Source: Wikipedia

Don't' know if anyone else noticed the senior sales advisor for the dallas location in the job listings. Looks like Dallas may be first.

rhall said:

Don't' know if anyone else noticed the senior sales advisor for the dallas location in the job listings. Looks like Dallas may be first.

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Note that the listing says that the sales advisor will not initially be supported by a store and will be working from a home office.

True, but it's a start to feeling out the market place before opening a store in the market. Might be because of the dealership laws in texas.

This was my biggest reservation before finally leasing one (I'm in Houston). They send someone to your home for service, but charge $1 per round trip mile. The status last I checked is that they have someone in Oklahoma just over the border. So the round trip fee will be just around $1000 per service until they put a store in Houston. Even if they do Dallas first, it'll still be around $500 per service for me.

good question. not sure. I'll review my paperwork and get back to you.

UPDATE: When I reviewed my paperwork, I noticed that I was being charged "sales tax" and the paperwork was on "California Pre-lease" form. So I got concerned that I was paying California taxes, and that I'd have to pay Texas taxes when I attempt to register. I asked my salesman (Ross) about it, and he knew of this thread and had all my answers ready...
1) I'm not paying taxes in California, only Texas.
2) I am paying taxes on the whole vehicle price. Apparently Texas is one of 2 states that does this, even though the lease is for 3 years and the vehicle is not completely depreciated. I was advised to ask an accountant about it. My accountants are very busy with other issues with me, so I will ask them this low priority question later.

dsm363 said:

Thanks. I get 100% of my power from wind (well, pay for it but the power can come from any source via the local power company) so that's good to know.

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I wonder if there is a similar way to buy certified power generated by nuclear fission?

http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/10/11/story7.html

The program is aimed at helping Austin Energy collect data and form a strategy to deliver electricity to as many as 190,000 plug-in vehicles by 2020.

Read more: Austin Energy pilot to equip electric car owners with chargers - Austin Business Journal

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