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The Tesla showroom at University Village in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler)
The third time was not the charm for a coalition that was pushing to level the playing field for electric vehicle sales in Washington state.
A bipartisan effort aiming to give Rivian, Lucid and other EV makers the right to sell their vehicles directly to consumers has stalled in Olympia.
In 2014, state lawmakers gave Tesla an exemption that allowed it to sell its own cars, while all other current and future carmakers were required to use franchise dealerships.
Tesla has been able to hold on to that sales advantage, selling directly out of its showrooms — which have been the target of protestors this month in Seattle rallying against Tesla CEO and Trump administration leader Elon Musk.
House Bill 1721 and its companion Senate Bill 5592 both had committee hearings this month. But neither went up for a vote ahead of the Friday’s legislative cutoff, leaving both bills presumably dead — again. Similar legislation failed last year and in 2021.
“Once again, the auto dealers and their allies in the Legislature stymied meaningful debate and blocked this bipartisan bill from moving forward,” said Mark Prentice, spokesperson for the Washington Clean Car Choice Coalition, by email.
“Legislators from both sides of the aisle know that our current ban on buying clean cars directly is bad for Washingtonians, bad for fair competition, and bad for our clean transportation goals,” Prentice added.
The coalition supporting the failed legislation vowed to continue working on the issue.
The law restricting direct sales for most automakers exists to prevent car manufacturers from competing against franchised dealerships, which have lobbied hard against the proposed change.
Representatives from dealerships say that manufacturers’ stores are more likely to be found only in urban settings and in fewer locations, offering limited access to repairs and recall fixes. The direct sales route eliminates the competition between auto dealerships, opponents to the legislation say.
Oregon, California, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada allow all EV manufacturers to offer direct sales. Consumers in Washington, Montana, New Mexico and other states who want to buy EVs that are not sold through dealerships must either purchase the vehicle online and get it delivered, or travel out of state to shop.
Rivian and Lucid have showrooms in Washington, but cannot give shoppers a test drive, sell them a car, or discuss financing for purchases.
The pressure is on to rev up EV sales in the state, which joined California and others in requiring all new vehicles sold to be zero carbon emissions by 2035. The requirement applies to passenger cars, light-duty vehicles, and medium-duty vehicles such as larger pick-up trucks and SUVs.
President Trump, who has worked closely with Musk since taking office last month, is targeting national EV legislation passed in recent years.
Previously: Tesla could lose its big EV sales advantage in Washington state if lawmakers pass new rules
