Tesla White House Petition To Allow Direct Sales Passes Signature Threshold

Tesla Motors has been in a constant battle with state governments over whether or not the car company can sell its vehicles directly to customers rather than going through a middle man (a.k.a. car dealerships). However, a White House petition recently surpassed the required 100,000 signatures, and it asks the US government to allow Tesla direct sales in all 50 US states.

Since it passed 100,000 signatures, it now moves into the hands of the Obama administration and requires a response. The petition stated that "states should not be allowed to prevent Tesla Motors from selling cars directly to customers. The state legislators are trying to unfairly protect automobile dealers in their states from competition. Tesla is providing competition, which is good for consumers."

Several states have already issued bans on Tesla Motors from selling their cars within state borders, including Texas, Virginia, and Massachusetts, with other states trying to sneak in similar legislation – the most recent state being New York. Tesla as a company has been fighting with legislators to reserve the bills, but Tesla Motors fans have begun joining in.

The White House petition was started around a month ago, and it reached the required number of signatures today, just a couple days shy of the deadline. The best part is, all the signatures came from the community, so we're sure that Tesla is more than grateful for the help. Frankly, we're surprised at how quickly the petition gained the last 25,000 signatures, seeing as how the petition reached 75,000 signatures just yesterday.

The next step is to wait for an official response from the Obama administration. It's not guaranteed that President Obama will be writing the decision himself, but as the petition website notes, we'll most likely hear a response from other administration officials instead. Hopefully, they lean our way in their decision, but we'll have to wait and see.