Tesla sues Fisker, then gets sued by Magna, then gets slapped back by Fisker and more

[HeilSvenska]

Karma, the object in question. Ironically named?

Tesla Sues Fisker Designers In World's Most Expensive Girl Fight Tesla Motors, the manufacturer of the Tesla Roadster, has filed suit against Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler (yes that Fisker) claiming the duo stole confidential design information and trade secrets while working for Tesla. We're not trying to pick sides around these parts, but the Tesla claims make some sense. Back in the development days of the Tesla, Henrik Fisker was hired to do the body design on a four-seater code-named the White Star. Tesla forked over $875,000 for Fisker's work. The lawsuit continues to divulge that Fisker had no experience with hybrids prior to working for Tesla and essentially sabotaged the project, took his earnings and developed the Fisker Karma, a similar sporty hybrid. The story gets a little peculiar on Tesla's end after Fisker left the company to make his own hybrid. Tesla said that they didn't want to use Fisker's design because he was going to make his own car and become the competition. This set the company back three to six months in production. If Tesla had a head start on the design-work why didn't they just progress with Fisker's current design and beat him to the show floor? Tesla continues to say that Fisker's work was substandard, so it's understandable, but they didn't have to scrap the design completely, right? Also, why would Tesla shell out nearly a million on a substandard designer with no hybrid experience? This is the point where we would initially speculate on how the lawsuit will affect production of the Tesla Whitestar and the Fisker Karma, but who are we kidding. These two are perpetually in that yes, but no, but maybe someday phase of production development.

[RC45]

I hope tesla goes away... we dont need yet another crap car maker on the market

[HeilSvenska]

A funny turn of events. I call it karma.

While Tesla Motors v. Fisker Automotive is a juicy story of alleged automotive espionage, we came across another lawsuit involving the Roadster maker as we were digging through the online records of the San Mateo Superior Court: Magna Powertrain Inc. USA v. Tesla Motors. And in this one Tesla is the defendant, not the plaintiff. The suit, filed by Magna on Feb. 22 , accuses Tesla Motors of two counts of breach of contract for allegedly failing to pay Magna for transmission work. Magna was contracted in March 2007 to design a two-speed transmission for Tesla’s Roadster, then code-named “Dark Star.” Magna is seeking $5.6 million from Tesla, or about 56 new Roadsters. This is just the latest twist in the saga of Tesla’s elusive transmission, which has caused major production delays and will require the company to retrofit the first vehicles later on with a new and simpler single-speed transmission. And Magna actually says in its suit that back September of 2006, when it started talking with Tesla, it originally suggested a one-speed transmission: TESLA wants MPT to design, develop, test and produce a production-ready dual speed transmission for the Dark Star by September 2007. MPT informed TESLA that designing, developing, testing and producing a two speed transmission for the Dark Star by September 2007 would be very challenging and that TESLA should consider a single speed rather than dual speed transmission. Tesla had originally contracted Magna Powertrain, a subsidiary of Canadian auto parts giant Magna International, to design and build 800 Dark Star transmissions in the first year, 1,500 in the second and 2,000 in the third. On top of that, Tesla contracted Magna to design and build 40,000 White Star transmissions, with production starting in March of 2009. The suit says that in March of 2007, Tesla signed a “Development Agreement and a Statement of Work” with Magna to start work on the transmission. Magna says it shipped the first transmission prototype to Tesla in July and told Tesla that the September target would be missed. Tesla then pushed back the start of its pilot production to January 2008 and full-scale production to May. The filing goes on to say that in October, Tesla instructed Magna to transition all engineering designs and development to Xtrac, the maker of Tesla’s interim transmission. Magna alleges it had no warning nor any indication that Tesla was dissatisfied with their work, but that the electric vehicle startup cooperated fully. Now, Magna might be miffed about losing the contract, but it couldn’t have come as a complete surprise that their two-speed transmission was not what Tesla was hoping for. And the lawsuit does not allege wrongful termination of the contract, but instead seeks payment for “all outstanding costs, fees and expenses as required by the Development Agreement and the SOW,” to the tune of $5,599,024, plus interest and fees. In the end, the single-speed transmission that will be put into the cars will actually be a Tesla in-house creation. Xtrac, the second transmission supplier, was contracted to make an interim transmission — Update: Xtrac was never contracted to develop a permanent solution, says Tesla. Darryl Siry, Tesla’s VP of sales, marketing and service, tells us: “One of our lessons is that we need to have more control over our fate and manage the process in house.” The startup seems to learn most of its lessons the hard way, and now the cost of those lessons might be settled in court.

[Bernardo]

Maybe tesla is "sueing"(?) fisker to get money for magna.

[HeilSvenska]

It's like an automotive soap opera.

Fisker to counterfile against Tesla Motors NEW YORK--Fisker Automotive intends to file for arbitration on Tuesday in a legal counterattack to a suit filed against it by Tesla Motors over allegedly stolen trade secrets. Henrik Fisker told CNET News.com that the filing will seek to have the Tesla suit derailed because it was filed in San Mateo, Calif., which would be a breach of contract. Fisker Automotive will seek to move the case to Orange County, Calif., and detail the flaws in Tesla's legal case. He spoke here at the CleanTech Conference put on by Merriman, Curhan, and Ford. Last month, Tesla sued Fisker Automotive, alleging that Henrik Fisker's design company, Fisker Coachbuild, stole Tesla technology when it did design work on a planned Tesla all-electric sedan. In the suit, Tesla alleges that Fisker and Bernhard Koehler, Fisker Coachbuild's chief operating officer, accepted the contract "to gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets, then announced a competing vehicle." On Tuesday, Fisker dismissed the suit as "ridiculous" and said it was a public-relations ploy aimed at obscuring the production delays Tesla is having due to design and technical issues. In its filing on Tuesday, Fisker Automotive will detail some of the problems that Tesla has gone through in trying to get its electric luxury sports car and a planned sedan to market. "The suit is ridiculous. First of all, why would I design a car that's purposely bad? It'd be bad for my reputation," Fisker said. During his work with Tesla, Fisker said Tesla changed the design and packaging, which caused complications. Some changes came after Elon Musk took over from ousted CEO Martin Eberhard, who had previously been the contact with Fisker Coachbuild, Fisker explained. The changes "morphed" the entire concept of the car, he said. After Tesla employees saw Fisker Automotive show off its own plug-in hybrid car at the North American International Auto Show in January, it started the process of seeking legal action, Fisker said. "It's just sour grapes. That's all I can make out of it," Fisker said. A representative from Tesla was not immediately available. Separately, Fisker said his company is on track to deliver its $80,000 plug-in hybrid luxury sedan at the end of next year. It will run about 50 miles on a battery and have a gasoline engine that will charge the battery for longer trips. Within five years, he anticipates that the company will sell a version that will cost about $40,000. It will still be a luxury sports sedan. But the lower price will be enabled by advances in battery technology, he said.

[RC45]

They are just pissed the gas-guzzling GT-R is getting more press than they are

[HeilSvenska]

Fisker wins this round.

Tesla Motors-Fisker Auto case to go to arbitration Tesla Motors' case against Fisker Automotive over allegedly stolen electric car designs is scheduled to go to arbitration. The San Mateo Superior Court on Wednesday granted Fisker Automotive's request for arbitration, according to the court's records. A case management conference is scheduled for later in August. Tesla filed a complaint against Henrik Fisker's design company, Fisker Coachbuild, in April, accusing the company of copying its luxury sedan designs. The suit said that Fisker and Bernhard Koehler, Fisker Coachbuild's chief operating officer, accepted the contract "to gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets, then announced a competing vehicle." Fisker Automotive responded in May, when it filed for arbitration. The contract between Fisker and Tesla had a clause that required that any disputes be handled through arbitration in Orange County, Calif., within 90 days, according to Fisker. Tesla filed its suit against Fisker in San Mateo Superior Court. On Thursday, Henrik Fisker released a statement, saying his company is "extremely pleased" with the court's decision. "Fisker Automotive is extremely pleased with this ruling because it allows it to get a prompt and economical resolution of Tesla's claims, all of which are believed to be without merit and brought for improper purposes," he said in a statement. Tesla Motors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[HeilSvenska]

More and more and more...

Vespremi, who joined Tesla in February 2007 and was laid off at the end of last year, alleges that Tesla violated terms of his employment, did not act in good faith and fair dealing, violated California labor codes, failed to pay wages owed, and practiced fraudulent business practices. In addition Vespremi is suing for libel and slander because of remarks that Tesla execs said to the press. The suit doesn’t name other members of the class, but says it includes Tesla current and former employees that had the same terms of employment as Vespermi. The suit was filed July 11 and the claims will not exceed $75,000.

[silentm]

hmm it still amazes me that the car can still be grinning about this

[F250]

Fisker is not an engineer. He is not a hybrid expert. He is a designer (stylist). You hire him for exteriors/interiors, not chassis and drive trains.

[HeilSvenska]

That's why he hired people to engineer the car for him. And Valmet is going to build Karma for Fisker, not Fisker itself.

[F250]

Originally Posted by HeilSvenska That's why he hired people to engineer the car for him. And Valmet is going to build Karma for Fisker, not Fisker itself.

And precisely why the technology stealing claim is preposterous. I doubt if he could recognize any technology worth stealing from Tesla!