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Tesla Motors' battle to sell electric cars directly to consumers faces a new hurdle as another state, this time Missouri, considers a measure to bar its company-owned store system. Above, a Tesla Motors Model S on display at the company's store at the Short Hills Mall.

(Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg)

This is how conspiracy theories get started.Electric cars are so rare that many New Jerseyans have never seen one. Yet already two efforts have arisen in Trenton to hobble the industry.

The first came last year in the form of a bill proposed by state Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic) that would have slapped a per-mile fee on zero-emission vehicles.

Whelan’s rationale was that the state would lose gas tax revenue as more electric cars joined the fleet. The math says otherwise. Federal regulations require the average fuel economy of all vehicles to rise gradually until 2025, when the average would be 54.5 mpg.

Obviously, the total gas consumed — and the total tax collected on it — will be the same if every car averages exactly 54.5 mpg or some get 25 mpg and others use no gas at all. So a conspiracy theorist might be tempted to think the bill’s Democratic sponsor had some other motive, such as strangling the industry in its infancy.

The same suspicions might apply to the recent actions of our Republican governor. In January, Chris Christie pocketed a $5,500 contribution to his inaugural committee from the state's powerful auto dealers lobby. In March, the governor's Motor Vehicle Commission voted to kick the most successful electric-car manufacturer in history, Tesla, out of the state on the grounds that the company had cut out the middle man by selling directly to consumers instead of through dealers.

Never mind that Tesla had just two showrooms in New Jersey and sold only a handful of cars per week. A cynic — or a conspiracy theorist — might note that the dealers wanted to block the sale of electric cars because they don’t require much maintenance. There are no oil changes and no spark-plug changes. There are no emissions adjustments because there are no emissions. Tires and brakes can be changed anywhere. So what’s left for the dealer to do — except push to have them outlawed, of course?

All of this was a big embarrassment to a governor who has positioned himself as a free market champion. Before long, Christie was insisting the MVC was just enforcing the law. He hinted he would sign a bill to change that law.

A couple Democratic assemblymen are now offering him that chance. Lou Greenwald of

Camden County and Tim Eustace of Bergen County are sponsoring a bill that would permit electric-car manufacturers to sell directly to consumers. Greenwald said he expects the bill to sail through both houses. Soon, it could once again be legal to sell Teslas in the most densely populated state, where the car's 270-mile range makes it practical for any trip imaginable within state boundaries.

Let’s hope there’s a conspiracy to get it signed into law.

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