Open Letter To @LouisianaGov: Please Keep Tesla’s Service Center in Louisiana

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Dear Governor Edwards,

I am writing this on behalf of my fellow friends in our state, Louisiana, as well as for myself. I am a reservation holder for the Tesla Cybertruck and many of my friends own different models of Tesla vehicles. There is only one service center in Louisiana and that’s the one in New Orleans — which was opened in late 2019.

I’m writing this because the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission, which you appointed, is trying to stop Tesla from providing warranty repairs at our only service center. This would force Louisiana residents to travel out of state for warranty service and could lead to the shutdown of Tesla’s service center.

If you really care about our state and our residents, then you would know that this would be pretty bad for our economy. New Orleans is a tourist city, after all, and one would think you would rather have those tourist dollars from Tesla owners driving to New Orleans to stay in New Orleans than let them be spent in Houston or elsewhere.

Also, taking actions that could lead to the shutdown of Tesla’s only service center is the equivalent of taking steps backwards. It’s bad enough that we have to jump through several loops just to get our Teslas, whether it’s having a third party ship them to us due to outdated dealership laws or picking up our vehicles in cities as far away as Atlanta and Nashville.

Now our state is trying to make us go to these faraway places just to get our warranties repaired. This isn’t right. Not only is it an inconvenience for Louisiana residents who own or want to own EVs, but it hurts our economy by making our own citizens feel punished for choosing to buy a vehicle that doesn’t produce any emissions.

If You Care About Going Net Zero By 2050, You Won’t Punish Louisianans For Buying EVs

Recently, WAFB9 reported that you issued an executive order which led to the creation of our state’s Climate Initiatives Task Force. You set goals to reduce our state’s net emissions by 26–28% by 2025 and become net zero by 2050. If you truly cared about going net zero by 2050, Louisiana wouldn’t punish its citizens for switching to a vehicle that doesn’t produce any emissions.

Please, Governor Edwards, don’t turn your back on your citizens who care about the environment and want to ally with you on your environmental goals for our state. Tesla owners are some of the loudest advocates for clean energy, EVs, and our environment. Tesla, the brand, which is led by Elon Musk, is the only automaker that truly cares about moving from fossil fuels to sustainable mobility.

You’ve even been inside of a Tesla, so you know what the vehicles are like. In 2019, you met Karen Rudisill in Sulphur, LA, for National Night Out and got to experience her Tesla Model X. So I ask you to consider your experiences, Karen, and the rest of the Louisiana citizens who either own a Tesla or want to own a Tesla in this manner. Shutting down the New Orleans Service Center, which could happen if Tesla is not allowed to keep its statutory obligation to provide warranty repairs for its customers, is not cool.

Thank you for hearing my voice,

Johnna Crider
Tesla Shareholder, advocate, writer at CleanTechnica, and Louisiana citizen.

Featured image by Karen Rudisill


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Johnna Crider

Johnna owns less than one share of $TSLA currently and supports Tesla's mission. She also gardens, collects interesting minerals and can be found on TikTok

Johnna Crider has 1996 posts and counting. See all posts by Johnna Crider