Alliance for Automotive Innovation Files Lawsuit Challenging Right to Repair in Maine

A lawsuit challenging Right to Repair in Maine has been filed by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, reports the Portland Press Herald. 

The Right to Repair law passed by voters in 2023 outlines the formation of an independent entity to oversee vehicle data access, with automakers to provide data through a standardized platform.

However, this independent entity has yet to be established, forming the center of AAI’s lawsuit. The group has claimed automakers are unable to comply with the law until an independent entity is put together, and that attempting to enforce the law until then would be unconstitutional. AAI also described the law as being “unconstitutionally vague.”

AAI has requested the court to prevent the Maine Attorney General from enforcing the law until the independent entity has been formed and automakers have had the chance to establish a standardized platform for sharing data.

Additionally, AAI is seeking a declaration that complying with the law is impossible, that it is unconstitutionally vague, and that the attorney general can’t currently enforce it.

“This is an example of putting the cart before the horse,” said AAI in a statement. “Compliance with the law right now is not possible.”

Tommy Hickey, director of Maine Right to Repair, dismissed AAI’s allegations as false, and said that the group is looking to “to tie this up in court so they can continue to profit off the monopoly that they have.”

Hickey’s counter is that automakers do not need the independent entity in order for them to establish a standardized platform and begin implementing it. He described the independent entity as being for “when the manufacturers do what they’re continuing to do … throwing up their hands saying we can’t do it.”

A working group in Maine comprised of independent repair operators, dealers, manufacturers, and other industry representatives is currently working on guidelines for how the law should be implemented, with their recommendations due Feb. 28.