Not surprisingly, Tesla agrees "wholeheartedly" that state rules need to change. The National Automobile Dealers Association is less than enthusiastic, however. It maintains that customers "lose virtually all bargaining power" in a middleman-free environment, since they couldn't simply go to an independent store to haggle for a better deal.

The FTC's criticism stops short of announcing any formal action, and it's not clear that anything will change. The Commission exists primarily to regulate companies, and it may have a tough time pressuring individual states; right now, it's just hoping that legislators will see the bans as anti-competitive and reject them accordingly. Still, it's clear that dealers shouldn't expect much FTC sympathy if the dispute over Tesla's sales strategy ever reaches the federal level.