This seems to be less about electric vehicles and more about the existing auto dealers protecting their turf.<p>As far as I can tell, they already have a law preventing the manufacturers from opening dealerships directly. Many states have similar laws. It was crummy, but it was the status quo. New car manufacturers didn't come along very often.<p>EV companies are new manufacturers, and they'd like to get around this inefficient system. This law is designed to make it clear that they can't get around it just by claiming the existing law doesn't apply to them.<p>That much, at least, makes sense. Of course a more sensible response would have been to revise the law to eliminate the mandatory middle man, but I imagine that would require a lot of unwinding of existing relationships and balances.