Tesla has had a bit of a rough road when it has come to selling its own electric cars, fighting for the right to do so in a number of states. They have come up with a new idea that is almost as inventive as their cars and batteries. The new store, called the “Tesla Mobile Container Store” can fold inside a container, be hauled on a flatbed truck, and set up practically anywhere. The mobile container store tour launched over Memorial Day weekend in Santa Barbaera, California and Tesla has a number of other U.S. and European stops planned for this summer.
Once it arrives, the store can then be unfolded to twice its size and be ready to roll. Essentially, this is a “pop-up” store. The store will have interactive displays like regular stores and allow shoppers to test drive the Model S. Since Tesla uses a direct sales model, selling directly to customers instead of filtering their cars through a dealership, they’ve had some difficulty doing business in several states. Although some states, like New Jersey and Maryland, have enacted new legislation to allow Tesla’s business model, others like Texas and Arizona, have expressed forbade it. A pop-up store may allow Tesla to skirt legislation in other states, where their business model has not yet tested the bounds of the law.
Related: Tesla wins Maryland! Governor allows Tesla to sell directly to customers
Starting at a Greyhound Station at 32 West Carillo Street in Santa Barbara, California, the store will tour the United States and Europe this summer. It will stay in Santa Barbara for a month before heading east to the Hamptons in New York. Although the company did not yet release where else the stores will pop up, the company did say they are targeting popular summer travel destinations in places where there are not yet permanent Tesla stores. Mobile Tesla stores are also on tour in multiple locations in Europe, including Denmark, France and Switzerland.
Via Treehugger
Images via Tesla
