Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors is responding to legal barriers in Texas by doing the proverbial double-down move. Rather than retreat and lick the wounds from its lost battle with the 2013 Texas legislature, the company is investing millions in building five Supercharger stations to link together Austin, San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Houston—the "Texas Triangle."

The state's first Supercharger is already operational along Interstate 35 in San Marcos, connecting Austin with San Antonio. Tomorrow, on September 10, Tesla Motors will be opening the second station on I-35—this one in Waco, connecting Dallas/Fort Worth with Austin and San Antonio. Tesla Motors company representatives and dozens of Texas Model S owners will be on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Supercharger stations are Tesla's answer to range limitations in its fast-selling Model S vehicles. Even with an uprated 85kWh battery, the Model S has a factory-rated maximum range of about 265 miles, with real-world reports from around the Web pegging 230 to 250 miles as a more realistic range. Supercharger stations allow Tesla owners to charge their cars to about 50 percent of their maximum range in 20 to 30 minutes, and by the end of 2015 Tesla plans to have stations strung like beads along major highways across the country. Tesla does not charge Model S owners to use the Supercharger stations—though it's more correct to say that the lifetime cost for using a Supercharger station is built into the price of the Model S.

Tesla focused its initial Supercharger build plans up and down California, and at first glance, oil-oriented Texas seems like an odd target for the billionaire-backed electric car manufacturer. The Texas legislature's response to Tesla's business strategy of selling direct to consumers rather than through dealerships has been far and away the most hostile of any state's, owing in part to Texas' iron-clad franchise laws. Those franchise laws can be traced to former Texas congressman Gene Fondren, who headed the Texas Automobile Dealers Association for over 30 years and who lobbied heavily for neo-protectionist laws entrenching car dealership franchise owners' positions in the state, up to and including providing the exact wording for the bills that became law.

The unexpectedly fierce pushback from lobbyists and lawmakers in Texas led to Tesla's defeat in the 2013 Texas legislative session, with the bills designed to grant it an exemption to the state franchise laws both dying in committee.

Because the Texas legislature meets only once every two years, Tesla's next chance to make its case in Texas won't come until January 2015. Tesla Motors billionaire founder Elon Musk isn't one to back down from a fight, though, and Tesla Motors isn't standing and waiting: in addition to the two I-35 Superchargers, Tesla has broken ground on a third station on I-10, connecting Houston and Austin/San Antonio, and plans to open two more on I-45 between Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth before the end of the year. Tesla expects that this will allow Model S owners unhindered transit between all of Texas' major cities and main economic centers. Focusing attention on Texas and making the state an easier place to own a Model S ought to drive up ownership and popular support for the company, which in turn ought to help swing lawmakers' minds—well, that, plus more campaign contributions.

Buying one anyway

But how exactly does a prospective Tesla customer in Texas buy a car today? Tesla manages to sell to customers in the Lone Star State in spite of how difficult the legislature has made it; those cars are simply "sold" in California and then delivered either to a local Tesla service center or directly to the customer's home. The customer has to do a bit of legwork with the registration, but not much more than is required for buying any other car out of state.

It's clearly not deterring buyers—I've seen a number of Model S vehicles driving around Houston, and adding Supercharger stations will give Tesla owners the freedom and flexibility to drive between Texas' notoriously spread-out cities. The company is going to have to bring its A-game to the 2015 Texas Legislative Session, too; Texas political observer Paul Burka, speaking to Autonews, suspects that the company is going to have to drop a lot more cash in legislators' pockets to get anything done:

To have a chance at winning then, Tesla will have to spend time and money in the Texas capital and make contributions, Burka said: "If they're going to survive, they're going to have to play the game."

A White House petition to grant Tesla the ability to sell directly to consumers gathered 117,259 signatures, exceeding the 100,000 signatures required for a response from the Obama administration; no response has yet been forthcoming. According to SFGate, Tesla Motors executives have discussed seeking federal legislative assistance if too many states shut the company out.

In the meanwhile, although Ars will miss the September 10th Waco opening—we're all going to be heads-down covering Apple's expected iPhone/iOS/OS X announcements—we are planning on being on-hand for the next Texas Supercharger station when it opens in Columbus, west of Houston. We're also working on a little something special for coverage around the event, so stay tuned.