Tesla Accuses Rivian of Stealing Battery Technology
Alex Healey
· 2 min read
Tesla
has accused rival electric vehicle automaker Rivian of poaching employees and stealing its trade secrets, again. Tesla had already filed a lawsuit back in July 2020, but it has just been expanded to include more defendants, and the specific claim that Rivian is stealing battery technology.
What is Tesla claiming?
As explained by
InsideEVs
, Tesla claims that Rivian has been “caught red-handed,” aggressively head-hunting Tesla engineers in order to copy its “highly proprietary” tech.There is already an active lawsuit, but Tesla has escalated the claims, suggesting Rivian is stealing “the most essential element” of its next-generation batteries.
A California state court judge has allowed Tesla to add these new allegations to the pending case, in addition to naming more former employees as defendants.
Tesla rarely shies away from throwing shade on its rivals, and as part of the updated court filing, it wrote, “Now apparently under pressure from investors after nearly a dozen years without producing a single commercial vehicle, Rivian has intensified its unlawful efforts.”
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Escalated lawsuit comes at a bad time for Rivian
MORE: A Rough Start: Rivian Says R1T Crash Caused by Driver Error
Rivian has objected to the escalated lawsuit, claiming the allegations are without merit and will only serve to prolong the litigation.
Rivian’s legal team argues that Tesla has failed to specify which trade secrets it has stolen, and is dragging its feet in an attempt to undermine Rivian’s reputation.
While Rivian’s request to dismiss the suit has already been denied, the presiding judge did say, “the defendants contend that Tesla has not alleged plausible facts to support its contention that defendants acquired confidential battery information. That contention has some appeal to it.”
Whether or not Tesla’s lawsuit is successful, the timing of the escalation could not come at a worse time for Rivian. The company is hoping to get a valuation of $80 billion before its initial public offering, and accusations of intellectual property theft are not good for investor confidence.
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