Vermont’s first Tesla dealership offering limited local sales

June 7, 2024  |  By Sarah Andrews  |  Community News Service

The inside of a Tesla vehicle. Photo courtesy Go Electric Oregon, State of Oregon

The much-touted first Tesla dealership in Vermont opened in March in South Burlington, but some would-be buyers of its popular electric vehicles still can’t get cars there. 

In late May, a salesman there was telling customers they could buy a Tesla online and pick it up at the dealership if they had their own financing — cash or a personal auto loan. But to use Tesla financing and low-interest deals, customers had to make the 278-mile, five-hour trek to Paramus, New Jersey, to get their vehicles while the local dealership works on setting up its computer system. 

It’s a drive that current Vermont Tesla owners know well, because they had to travel to New Jersey to collect their Model 3s and Model Ys. They might have had reason to celebrate in January, when the car company announced it would open the South Burlington dealership at the former Hannaford supermarket site on Shelburne Road. They now can take their Teslas in for repairs or maintenance closer to home, instead of driving to Tesla service centers in Massachusetts or upstate New York.  

“It’s going to make life a whole lot easier for New Englanders,” said Michelle Lewis, a White River Junction resident who owns a Model 3 and writes for Electrek, an online magazine focused on electric vehicles. “It will make a big difference if they need something done.” 

Tesla dealerships don’t sell cars for buyers to drive straight off the lot. All Tesla customers must order through the EV maker’s website. At the South Burlington location, employees can answer questions and help customers place orders, whether those orders will arrive there or in New Jersey. 

An employee at the South Burlington dealership told a reporter for The Other Paper that he and other workers need corporate approval from Tesla, based in Texas, for news coverage. Multiple attempts to reach Tesla officials via email and phone for permission to do local interviews were unsuccessful. 

Inside the sleek, nearly empty dealership in South Burlington, the main attraction is the 2024 Cybertruck, a 19-foot-long, sharp-angled stainless steel electric pickup that Tesla recently released. Several Teslas in the parking lot are available for test drives.  

Todd Lockwood, director of the Vermont Tesla Owners Group and owner of both a Model Y and a Model 3, said he spends almost every day hanging out at the new dealership, getting to know the staff and local customers. He brings his morning coffee there and said he sees the dealership’s service department is busy. 

“Really terrific crew they have working there,” he said. 

Lockwood said he expects the dealership’s opening will lead to more Vermonters choosing Teslas when they look to a driving option that doesn’t guzzle gasoline. “There are many, many people in the area here that will probably buy a Tesla, but they were holding off until there was a service facility within a reasonable distance,” Lockwood said. 

The South Burlington dealership started business as Tesla experienced a significant slowdown in sales, according to its recent financial results. In April, the company announced an 8.7% drop in revenue and a 55% decline in profits for the first quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2023. It has since laid off hundreds of employees, according to news reports. 

Still, electric vehicle experts said Tesla sales remain strong in Vermont. Auto sales data shows that Teslas account for just over a quarter of Vermont’s 9,000 or so registered electric vehicles, said David Roberts, senior consultant and electric vehicle expert for Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, or VEIC, the Winooski nonprofit that runs the state’s utility devoted to energy efficiency. The number is growing, he added. 

“We’ve seen a very sharp increase over the last year and a half or so,” Roberts said.  

The cost-effectiveness of driving electric, as well as the state’s commitment to accessible charging, has driven Vermonters’ interest in Teslas and EVs in general, Roberts said. Vermont has the most charging stations per-capita in the country, he said. 

Nationwide, the shift toward EVs is similar, according to Lewis, the Electrek writer. The car market is changing, and so are dealerships. “I always liken this to going from the horse to the Model T,” she said, referring to Ford Motor Company’s original mass-produced car. “This is not optional. We’re moving away from gas.”

Correction (6/3/24): The salesman was talking to customers in late May.

Sarah Andrews reported this story on assignment from the Vermont Community Newspaper Group. The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.