Second Tesla Gallery, Service Center Opening This Weekend In Houston

Tesla Model S

Tesla Motors may not be allowed to sell its electric cars directly to customers in Texas, but it can still put them on display.

After failing to convince the Texas legislature to legalize direct sales (twice), the company is opening a second gallery in Houston this weekend.

Like the existing Tesla gallery--also in Houston--the new one will show cars, but it cannot legally facilitate sales.

The new Tesla gallery will also include a service center for existing Tesla owners, reports the Houston Chronicle.

It joins an existing Tesla gallery at Houston's Galleria mall, and a service center in the city's Westchase area.

A second Texas gallery could be considered a small victory after two failed attempts by Tesla to get the state legislature to legalize direct sales.

Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]

In 2013, CEO Elon Musk came to Texas to lobby, even dangling the possibility of a second Tesla factory--one that would build an electric pickup truck, in fact.

He found sponsors in both houses of the legislature for a bill permitting an American manufacturer making 100-percent electric cars (i.e., Tesla itself) to sell directly to consumers in Texas.

The bill wasn't passed, though, and because the Texas legislature only meets every other year, Musk and company didn't get another shot until 2015.

He and other Tesla representatives returned to Texas earlier this year, hoping to reach a compromise with the franchised dealers that bitterly oppose direct sales.

Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]

Musk suggested something similar to a previous arrangement arrived at in New York, where the number of Tesla stores in the state would be capped.

At the time, he said Tesla would be happy opening just seven retail stores in the Lone Star State.

The legislature was unmoved, though, and Musk won't have another opportunity to make his case until 2017.

If Tesla can crack the direct-sales ban, Texas could be a potentially lucrative market for the company.

It may be known as the home of Big Oil, but Texas represents a meaningful part of plug-in electric car sales, thanks in part to well-developed charging infrastructure.