BISMARCK — The sight of an electric vehicle on a North Dakota road is not exactly rare, but it’s far from common.

The state has some of the lowest rates of electric vehicle ownership per person in the U.S. There is a seemingly endless list of reasons used to explain this: the cold; the lack of infrastructure; a dislike of electric vehicles from a state with a huge oil industry.

America’s largest electric vehicle company added another potential reason to that list in recent legal filings: it can’t set up a dealership in North Dakota.

Tesla sued the North Dakota Department of Transportation after the agency blocked its applications to open dealerships in Bismarck and Fargo.

The DOT turned down the applications in 2024, citing a state law that prohibits vehicle manufacturers from selling

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