Ontario court sides with Tesla

An Ontario court has ruled in favour of the Canadian arm of Tesla Inc. in its petition that it had been treated unfairly in the provincial government’s cancellation of an electric vehicle rebate program.

Ontario Superior Court judge Frederick L. Myers said the decision to exclude Tesla from a grace period for the program’s wind-down was arbitrary and had singled out Tesla for harm.

Tesla launched the legal petition after Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government ended the rebate program on July 11, but said it would extend the rebates to vehicles already sold through dealerships if they were delivered and registered within 60 days.

The government later clarified that the extension only applied to vehicles sold through franchised dealerships, which excluded Tesla’s Ontario dealerships.

Myers quashed the government’s exercise of discretion as it was made for an improper purpose and because it singled out Tesla without providing the car maker “any fair process whatsoever.”

Tesla said it was pleased with the court’s decision and hopes the Ministry does the “right thing” by extending the incentives to all electric vehicles during the wind-down period. A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General said the government was reviewing the ruling.