Car manufacturer Rivian filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, naming the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles registrar as the defendant. The company challenged a 2014 law that blocks most new automakers from selling vehicles directly to consumers in the state while exempting Tesla, which can operate up to three direct‑sales sites. This, Rivian argued, constitutes unfair economic protectionism toward legacy dealerships as reported by InsideEVs.
Rivian’s complaint described the ban as “irrational in the extreme,” stating it reduces competition, limits consumer choice, and drives up costs and inconvenience with “literally no countervailing benefit.”
According to The Columbus Dispatch and InsideEVs, the company is allowed to service, rent, and deliver vehicles in Ohio but cannot complete a sales transaction within the state without violating the law.
Rivian argued Tesla’s carve‑out, included in the same 2014 legislation, grants a unique advantage allowing it to sell through three company‑run stores, while Rivian and other electric vehicle (EV) makers are blocked. This unequal treatment forms the heart of the constitutional claim in the lawsuit, according to WebProNews.
This marked Rivian’s first direct legal challenge of a state sales ban, though the EV maker previously prevailed in Illinois when dealer groups sued in 2022, the suit was dismissed and Rivian retained the legal right to sell directly there, according to WebProNews’s recap of past rulings.
InsideEVs noted Rivian currently sells directly to customers in 25 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C. It also operates service centers (but no sales showrooms) in major Ohio metros like Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Ohio customers must finalize their purchase from out of state and arrange delivery locally in a workaround the Rivian complaint called “inefficient and burdensome.
Rivian is seeking an injunction preventing the state from enforcing the ban against it or, alternatively, the right to apply for the same direct-sales license Tesla enjoys. The company frames the outcome as a consumer‑protection issue, asserting the ban hinders EV adoption and economic competitiveness in Ohio, especially considering its growing local manufacturing footprint, according to Yahoo Autos.
