Tesla is allowed to sell its EVs directly to consumers in Ohio, but its competitor, Rivian, is not. The latter is suing the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles to end its ban on direct-to-consumer sales — and with it, its rival’s carveout.

“Ohio’s archaic prohibition against the direct-sales of vehicles is unconstitutional, irrational, and harms Ohioans by reducing competition and choice and driving up costs and inconvenience,” Rivian CAO Mike Callahan tells Inc.’s Tekendra Parmar.

Ohio represented an early victory in Tesla’s state-by-state campaign to bypass state laws designed to protect the franchised dealership system. Tesla won an exception in Ohio by virtue of already selling EVs to Ohioans as of Jan. 1, 2014, the deadline established by a then-new law prohibiting the issuance of dealer licenses to factories.

Rivian’s delivered its first fully electric R1T pickups in late 2021.

“Rivian LLC is an American automotive company that wants to sell its vehicles directly to consumers in Ohio, just like Apple sells iPhones and Tesla Inc. sells Teslas,” the lawsuit states, in part.

Read more at Inc.