Tesla slams Chris Christie for banning direct car sales in New Jersey

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors criticized New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s administration and the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission for blocking auto companies from selling cars directly to consumers Thursday. As a result of the new rule passed earlier in the day, New Jersey residents will likely have to go out of state if they want to purchase a Tesla vehicle, unless the electric car maker changes to a dealership sales model.

“The Administration and the NJMVC are thwarting the Legislature and going beyond their authority to implement the state’s laws at the behest of a special interest group looking to protect its monopoly at the expense of New Jersey consumers,” the company said in a press release. “This is an affront to the very concept of a free market.”