To try and mitigate the effects of Iowa’s ban on Tesla-owned showrooms, a group of three rogue Tesla owners from Missouri drove their own personal Model S sedans across state lines to offer them up for test drives to potential Iowa Tesla customers.
As Road & Track reports, the three rogue Tesla owners set up a test drive event in the city of Des Moines. Director of Iowa DOT Bureau of Investigation Paul Steier has commented that there is nothing illegal about the test drives, as all three individuals have no affiliation with Tesla Motors.
According to Road & Track, Tesla Motors is not only barred from selling in Iowa, but even from offering test drives operated by the factory rather than through a franchise. Just last month, Iowa’s DOT shut down a manufacturer-run test drive event in a hotel parking lot. They were tipped-off and compelled to do so by (who else?) Iowa’s dealer network.
Of course, Iowa’s anti-Tesla laws aren’t unlike those found in a handful of other states, including Michigan, which just recently banned Tesla-owned stores and galleries in the state. Fortunately for the consumer, there is a group of three dedicated, rogue Tesla owners touring the nation and giving us the test drives we seek.
Better still, they have plans to host a similar event in Michigan this spring.
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