These days when one hears “Tesla” and “lawsuit” in the same sentence, conventional wisdom is that yet another disgruntled investor is suing Elon Musk’s company and/or Musk himself, seeking recoveries from Musk’s “going private” tweet, either longs or shorts. In this case however, the tables are turned, because as Electrek reports, one month after the Ontario government shut down its “generous” EV rebate, Tesla is suing the Ontario government claiming it”deliberately and arbitrarily” targeted the company, discriminating against Tesla based on how it was treated differently from other automakers through the shutdown of the EV incentives.
This is what happened: after the election of the Conservative party in June, Doug Ford, the party’s leader, said that they were shutting down the cap-and-trade program, which was financing the EV rebate – which was worth up to $14,000 – to finance a 10-cent per liter tax reduction on gasoline.
While one can debate whether the decision was good or not, few can argue that the new government was within its rights to shut down the program.
What Tesla is contesting, however, is how Ontario handled the sudden phaseout of the EV rebate, which Tesla claims is disadvantaging Tesla buyers, and is discriminating the company because it doesn’t use third-party dealers.
The $14,000 EV rebate was killed – effective July 14 – after the Conservative party took over the government. And, at the time, it wasn’t exactly clear who would be affected: some, such as Electrek, had assumed that the many Model 3 buyers who had a car on order, which would be many as Tesla had just opened orders for the dual motor and performance versions in Canada, were safe because the government announced this:
Inventory that dealers have on lots or orders made by dealerships with manufacturers on or before July 11, will also be honoured for the incentive provided that the vehicle is delivered to consumers, registered, and plated by September 10.
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