Tesla sues Ontario over rebate on electric vehicles
Exclusion from program fuels complaint of alleged ‘discriminatory intentions’
TORONTO Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors Canada ULC has filed a lawsuit against the Ontario government, alleging it was the subject of “unjustified targeting ” when the province cancelled its electric vehicle rebate program last month.
Tesla, which confirmed it filed a lawsuit with the Ontario Superior Court on Thursday, said in its application for judicial review that the Ministry of Transportation excluded the electric car maker from its transition plan after it scrapped the rebate program.
The automaker claims that the government’s decision left hundreds of customers ineligible for rebates they expected to receive when they ordered their vehicles.
Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Bob Nichols said in a statement that the government is aware of Tesla’s application for judicial review, and that it would be inappropriate to comment “as this matter is before the courts.
Doug Ford’s Ontario government cancelled the Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program on July 11, shortly after it scrapped the cap and trade program that funded the incentives. The program, which was first introduced by the previous Liberal government, offered rebates of up to $14,000 on eligible vehicles.
At the same time, the province said it would still provide the rebate for eligible vehicles and orders made on or before July 11 and delivered to customers by Sept. 10.
But Tesla claims it was explicitly left out of that transition plan, leaving many of its customers short up to $14,000.
In the application, the company alleges that the Minister of Transportation “set out deliberately and arbitrarily to exclude Tesla Canada and its customers from the Transition Plan” that was announced on July 11. The company alleges that the province sent letters on July 11 to dealerships outlining the transition plan procedure for vehicles purchases up until that point. Tesla received one of those letters, it said in the application, but then received a notice that the sender “attempted to ‘recall’ it.”
Tesla claims it then received an additional letter from the government that “omitted details on how Tesla Canada customers could obtain rebates under the Transition Plan and made clear that (the Ministry of Transportation) had decided specifically to exclude Tesla Canada alone.”
The company claims that because it does not use a franchised dealership model, vehicles ordered on or before July 11 would be ineligible for rebates under the transition plan.
The electric vehicle maker also said that Transportation Minister John Yakabuski’s comments in the legislature on July 26, when he stated that anyone who purchased or ordered a vehicle “other than Tesla” would receive a rebate, made the “discriminatory intentions even more clear.”
The company called the decision “unreasonable and unlawful” and that “it has created the impression that Tesla Canada and its customers will not be treated equally under the law.”
Tesla is asking for a judge to hear its case, and for the decision excluding it from the transition plan to be quashed.
None of the claims have been proven in court.