--- title: "Oklahoma Committee Passes Bill To Outlaw Tesla Sales and Service Centers" description: "If a new state legislature bill becomes law, Oklahomans may soon have to go out of state to buy and service their Teslas. " date: "2022-03-03" modified: "2022-03-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/oklahoma-tesla-bill" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "electric vehicles" - "politics" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Oklahoma Committee Passes Bill To Outlaw Tesla Sales and Service Centers ![If a new state legislature bill becomes law, Oklahomans may soon have to go out of state to buy and service their Teslas. ]() *\Image: Tesla\* ## Car Wars If a new state legislature bill becomes law, Oklahomans may soon have to go out of state to buy and service their Teslas. As local [Oklahoma City news station *KOCO* reports](), a new bill that bans automakers from selling cars and services directly to consumers [passed a House committee unanimously]() this week. If the bill passes through the entire state legislature, it could "force Tesla to close its existing locations in Oklahoma AND prevent Tesla from shipping cars to anyone in the state," as [the company complained in a February campaign](), encouraging Oklahomans to contact their representatives. To many, the new bill is part of a [much greater anti-EV]() push in the US, aimed at protecting the country's existing automotive industry from emerging players like Tesla. https://twitter.com/BFNagy/status/1497683564351139842 ## Bad Investments Even though [Oklahoma lobbied to get Tesla to build one of its Gigafactories in Tulsa]() back in 2020, Tesla sees the bill as a way for lawmakers to punish "EV manufacturers like Tesla," according to its February campaign. In many ways, the new bill is part of a [much greater anti-EV]() movement, with [other states]() including [Mississippi]() and [West Virginia]() passing similar bills targeting electric car manufacturers. Many of these efforts are symbolic [rejections of the Biden administration's green energy plan](), which is slated to provide tax incentives to EV manufacturers and [fund the construction]() of EV charging centers across the nation. While Congress isn't [quite as fiery a battleground for the EV debate](), state legislatures are much more vulnerable to this kind of piecemeal lobbying and, as such, are clearly better poised to take up the mantle on behalf of old-school automakers. If the new bill in Oklahoma becomes law, it'll set a jarring precedent, even as the federal government aims to provide incentives for the manufacturing of EVs. **READ MORE:** [Oklahoma bills regarding Tesla service centers, Pardon and Parole Board pass House committee]() \[*KOCO*\] **More on electric vehicles:** [*Ukrainian Company Shuts Down Russian EV Chargers, Spams Them With Anti-Putin Messages*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()