When the Law Kills Your Electric Car Dealership

Owning a US electric vehicle dealership has been a wild ride in the 2020s.

Since Polestar Short Hills opened in northern New Jersey in 2021, it went through a Covid-era demand spike and EV shortage that left some used electrics with higher valuations than new ones; a new federal tax credit of up to $7,500 that brought a new wave of drivers in the door; lower sales volumes after the rollback of that federal tax credit, and the snipping of a state one; and then another wave of buying when EV-curious drivers began running from Elon Musk’s Tesla because of the CEO’s involvement with the Trump administration.

Now, Matthew Haiken, who owns that Polestar dealership along with three other (non-Polestar) dealerships in the Prestige Collection Auto Group, faces another and more serious challenge. Polestar said in late Junethat the US Commerce Department had denied an authorization...

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