The South Carolina Bill to allow direct sales of electric vehicles to fail – WLTX.com

Columbia, SC – the South Carolina Bill, which would allow electric vehicle manufacturers to be sold directly to consumers, stopped in the legislature and can be made for this legislative session.

Legislators voted on Wednesday to delay the debate about the measure, effectively terminating any more discussions. The bill, known as the South Carolina Consumer Law, would allow automakers without previous franchising agreements in the country to bypass traditional dealers and sell directly to customers. It would also allow manufacturers to manage their own service centers.

Proponents of the bill, including representatives of Scout Motors and Tesla, claim that this will increase consumers’ choice and help South Carolina compete with other countries.

“The real tragedy here would be if the men and women working in the production of Blythewood scouts cannot buy the products they make in this country,” says Cody Taker, Vice President of Trade Operations for Scout Motors. The company is currently building a plant in Richland County, which will produce electric trucks and SUVs.

SCOUT is currently building a plan in Richland in the immediate vicinity of Interstate 77, which will make trucks and jeeps that do not work on gas. But when the plant is built, the scout will not be able to sell its vehicles directly to customers.

Taker said South Carolina is behind other states when it comes to direct EV sales.

“We want freedom for consumers,” Taker said. “We want users to be able to buy the vehicle they want and buy it as they want,” he said.

The owners of a car dealership franchise have strongly opposed the bill, claiming that it will give electric vehicle manufacturers an unfair advantage and that electric car manufacturers know the law before deciding to come to the state.

“Asks us to change our laws here in South Carolina to comply better with their preferences for retail vehicles directly not well with me or 150 employees in Greenville who rely on the franchise model to They remain viable for our livelihood, “said Mark Mark White, who owns Auto Group Steve White in the state.

State representative Chris Wuten (R-Lexington) said he had concerns about the potential impact of the bill on dealers’ work and told News19 that the bill was probably dead.

“Most people in the room voted for scout motors to come here with the premonition and the excitement of the creation of 4,000 new jobs,” Vouten said. “But what has not been discussed is that there are 18,000 jobs that dealers in South Carolina create. So do we exchange work or create new jobs?”

As the Commission votes to postpone the debate, the bill will not move on. However, legislators noted that such a measure could be introduced again at any time.