Electric automaker Tesla scored a major court victory against Swedish transportation authorities on Monday in an ongoing dispute surrounding vehicle license plates.
As reported by Aftonbladet, Sweden’s Norrköping District Court granted Tesla permission to retrieve its withheld license plates from manufacturer Scandinavian Motorcenter. The court ordered the Swedish Transport Agency to approve the release within seven days or pay a fine of 1 million kronor ($95,000).
Previously, an aggrieved Tesla CEO Elon Musk lambasted Sweden’s actions obstructing Tesla’s license plates as “insane.”
Tesla filed dual lawsuits against the Transport Agency and national postal service PostNord after failing to secure plates for its sold vehicles. The unusual imbroglio recently drew international attention.
While the postal lawsuit remains ongoing, Monday’s district court judgement was unambiguous. “This is an important win for Tesla against unreasonable government barriers,” explained Stockholm School of Economics professor Anna Eriksson.
Now legally entitled to the outstanding plates, Tesla can distribute vehicles to meet consumer demand in Sweden. Yet with a pending lawsuit, the peculiar license plate saga may still have road left.
Our Thoughts
This ruling is a major win for Tesla in its fight with Swedish regulators. But clashes between iconoclast Musk and governments have occurred before and likely will again soon.