Tesla Motors plans to go to court to appeal New Jersey's ruling that would prevent it from selling its vehicles in the state later this month, according to the Associated Press.
The notice was filed last week to the state appellate division, according to the Associated Press.
Tesla is hoping to get regulations imposed by the state Motor Vehicle Commission, that requires new-car dealers to have franchise agreements before they can be licensed, overturned.
Those regulations were proposed last fall and implemented last month. They essentially prohibit Telsa from using its direct-sales strategy.
The Palo Alto, California-based company has been selling vehicles at two locations in N.J. for about two years.
Tesla claims the Motor Vehicle Commission "exceeded" its authority when it amended the regulations, and feels it only did so because of pressure applied by the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, according to AP.
Forcing the company to operate under a franchise agreement, would be "self-defeating," according to Tesla.
"Franchise dealers have an inherent conflict of interest in selling electric vehicles," Tesla's filing says, according to AP. "In order to do so effectively, they would need to enthusiastically tout the reasons why electric vehicles are superior to gasoline vehicles. This is not something that they are going to do since gasoline vehicles represent virtually all of their revenue."
The head of the New Jersey dealers' group, Jim Appleton, recently said in a statement that Tesla's business model is bad for competition and "limits car buyers' access to warranty and safety recall services," according to AP.
"No one wants to see Tesla out of business in New Jersey," Appleton said. "But the (New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission) must fairly and equitably enforce the law and Tesla should be required to play by the same rules as everyone else."
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
