Texas lawmakers have revised legislation that Tesla owners feared would prevent them from servicing and maintaining their electric vehicles in the state.

The company, which isn't permitted to sell its electric cars directly to Texas consumers, said the revisions no longer put its service centers at risk. Tesla thanked the bill's author, Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, for listening to its thousands of Texas customers.

"The substitute bill preserves the status quo to allow Tesla and companies like us to continue to service our customers' vehicles in Texas," a company spokesman said. "We look forward to continuing to serve our growing customer base in the Lone Star State."

Hancock's staff maintains the bill never endangered service centers, though revisions were made to "assuage concerns and prevent misreadings of what can be very complex statutory references."

Tesla's concerns with the original bill language centered around how it defined "franchised dealer" and "dealerships." The company said language in SB 1415 added "servicing" and "repairing" to the definition of dealership activity — which would have prohibited it for manufacturers like Tesla.

Dallas-Fort Worth is home to two of Texas' six Tesla service centers, and North Texas residents registered nearly 3,000 new Tesla vehicles in 2018, according to Freeman Publishers Inc., which tracks sales in Dallas, Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties.

Texas law requires new vehicles to be sold through dealer franchises. Tesla operates five showrooms in North Texas where customers can view its cars and SUVs.