In a victory for the manufacturer of electric cars, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled today dealers of other types of cars have no grounds to block the company's efforts to sell vehicles directly to consumers.

Massachusetts car dealers had sued Tesla Motors under a state law designed to protect dealers from predatory actions by manufacturers.

But the state's highest court said the law only applies to the manufacturers selling to the dealerships that felt they were injured. Tesla isn't selling cars to specific dealerships - it wants to sell cars from its own showrooms, starting with one in Natick - the court noted.