Letter: "Working towards a cleaner environment without bending the laws for Tesla"

OPINION

Letter: Working towards a cleaner environment without bending the laws for Tesla

April 4, 2022

Comments

I am writing in response to the editorial “Let Tesla sell cars in Connecticut.” Connecticut’s new-car dealers strongly agree with the need to get more electric vehicles on Connecticut’s roads. However, we disagree that the way to increase the number of EVs on Connecticut roads is through direct sales.

To be clear, Tesla, Lucid and Rivian could sell their cars in Connecticut today under current state laws, but they choose not to.

Connecticut’s dealers are essential to the mass adoption of EV’s. All Connecticut new auto dealers are fully committed to selling them; Volvo, Audi, Chevrolet, Ford, Mercedes, Nissan and many other manufacturers have electric vehicles on the market. By 2023, the auto industry will have invested more than $250 billion in electrification. With more than 45 options of EVs, and projections for 80 EVs to be on the market soon, Connecticut dealerships make purchasing, servicing and charging EVs easily accessible for all consumers.

Since 2015, Connecticut’s Automotive Retailers Association and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection have worked together through the CHEAPR program to provide incentives to consumers purchasing EVs. The CHEAPR program now offers incentives specifically for low- to middle-income earners to provide expanded access to electric vehicles.

Local new car dealers are also assisting the state in the build-out of a robust charging infrastructure and offer universal charging ports that are compatible for any electric car. Dealers across Connecticut have invested millions of dollars in more than 600 charging stations including several super chargers, making the charging process fast and efficient. Many of the chargers at the dealerships are open to the public, whether you purchased your car at that dealership or not, and the majority are also free of charge. That number will continue to grow this year and next as dealers continue to install more chargers.

The direct sales bill creates a loophole in Connecticut’s laws to the benefit of only select corporations. Tesla should sell its cars in Connecticut under the same laws that all other manufacturers must follow. They can start today.

Michael Lynch Jr.

President

Lynch Toyota

Manchester