Expanding the Direct Sale of EVs is a losing proposition

Monday, February 28, 2022

The letter below appeared in the February 28th edition of Newsday.

Expanding the direct sale of electric vehicles is a losing proposition ["Expand direct sales of electric vehicles," Opinion, Feb. 15]. It increases the tax burden on individual homeowners and disadvantages members of the business community.

Traditional auto dealers conduct business under a franchise agreement model with manufacturers. They occupy a tremendous amount of commercial real estate at a time when other retailers are vacating properties and abandoning communities. The revenue they generate is significant and used to fund public services, educate our communities, and create good jobs. Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian have decided this business model doesn’t work for them.

The New York League of Conservation Voters has taken up their fight and called on the state to rewrite the rules, suggesting there are barriers for New Yorkers to purchase electric vehicles. This is false. The only barrier to EV manufacturers participating in the auto market is the requirement they play by the rules.

Legislating direct sale of EVs under the guise of climate action is a false flag for the CEOs to continue getting richer at taxpayers’ expense. The state shouldn’t have to rewrite the rules because EV manufacturers developed a business model based on greed. They can and should sell to consumers the way every other car is sold in New York, through a franchise.

— Ryan Stanton, Hauppauge

The writer is executive director of the LI Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.