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Tesla doubles down on accusations rival Rivian stole its battery secrets

The popular electric automaker is broadening its lawsuit against the EV truck upstart

Peter Blumberg, Bloomberg
Oct 06, 2021  •  October 6, 2021  •  2 minute read  •  Join the conversation
R.J. Scaringe, Rivian's 35-year-old CEO, introduces his company's R1T all-electric pickup truck and all-electric R1S SUV at Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 27, 2018.
R.J. Scaringe, Rivian's 35-year-old CEO, introduces his company's R1T all-electric pickup truck and all-electric R1S SUV at Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 27, 2018. Photo by Mike Blake /Reuters

Tesla escalated its trade secrets fight with Rivian late September, accusing the maker of electric pickups of continuing to poach its employees and stealing “highly proprietary” battery technology.

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The world’s leading electric-vehicle maker says the lawsuit it filed 14 months ago against Rivian hasn’t stopped the startup from raiding its staff and looting its intellectual property. That includes one instance this summer where Tesla defectors were “caught red-handed” stealing the core technology for its next-generation batteries, “the most essential element for any electric vehicle,” according to a court filing last month.

“Now apparently under pressure from investors after nearly a dozen years without producing a single commercial vehicle, Rivian has intensified its unlawful efforts,” Tesla said.

Rivian declined to comment.

The latest twist comes as Rivian is planning an initial public offering. The Irvine, California-based company is seeking a roughly US$80-billion valuation, Bloomberg reported in August.

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A California state court judge in San Jose allowed Tesla last week to add its new allegations to the pending case, along with three more of its former employees as defendants. Rivian had objected, arguing the claims are unsupported by the facts and that dramatically expanding the scope of the litigation will delay resolving it. Rivian already lost its initial request for dismissal of Tesla’s claims back in March.

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Rivian says Tesla dragged its feet since initially filing suit in July 2020 and hasn’t sufficiently specified the trade secrets it claimed were stolen, nor how the data at issue is distinct from what’s already public knowledge.

“For several of its trade secrets it has provided so little detail that Rivian is unable to ascertain what Tesla is claiming as its intellectual property, let alone whether what it is claiming is or could be secret,” Rivian said in a filing.

The case is Tesla Inc. v. Rivian Automotive Inc., 20CV368472, California Superior Court, Santa Clara County (San Jose).

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