It seems strange for Tesla to sue Rivian in this case.  There could be a case for Tesla against their ex-employees if they can prove that they stole company documents, but I would think to have a successful suit against Rivian there would have to be evidence of Rivian paying for the documents?

Tesla is probably angry that Rivian has been recruiting some of their employees, but as far as I know there are no laws against that, nor are there any laws against employees bringing their expertise to a new job (it's always been that way), so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.  Maybe Tesla is trying to force Rivian, as a fledgeling company, to use a bunch of their assets to fight a legal battle, thus potentially taking some cash away from their development budget?

MC wrote:

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Tesla is probably angry that Rivian has been recruiting some of their employees, but as far as I know there are no laws against that, nor are there any laws against employees bringing their expertise to a new job (it's always been that way), so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

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 Ya if that was the case a lot of companies would be in do-do. Business is so incestuous.

Pretty much everyone who works in R&D or IT is required to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement, but again that would reflect on the employees not the company hiring them.

Not a legal expert, but IMHO for one company to sue another for stealing secrets, the company's management would have to agree to use documented information from a competitor brought in by an ex-employee of the competitor, or they would have to have actively participated in espionage of some sort in order to obtain those secrets.

So there must be more to this than is being disclosed in the article.  The whole thing seems a little strange, so there must be more to it.

Opened at $78, now $100.

Canadian Poncho wrote:

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Opened at $78, now $100.

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 Showing over $160 in pre-trade this morning, so doubled in short order. The stock market is insane, they havent made any deliveries yet. Musk is the richest man in the world, he hasnt made any real profit yet.

What percentage of vehicles including these, are made in China? What has happened with inflation is mainly caused by supply chain problem, ie. imports. If China decides it needs all its manufacturing capacity for its own use or gets in a conflict with the USA and shuts off exports to them and us, our Walmart world is in trouble. Sorta off topic?

Most valuable auto companies now Tesla, Toyota, Rivian#3, ahead of VW. Tesla now over $1 trillion, Toyota $306 billion. The market is betting we all buy a Tesla.

When you look at dealership numbers for sales, parts, and service in the real world, these EV startups have to explode in locations in the next 5 years to keep up with the traditional companies EVs coming on stream. There is no Tesla dealer this side of Montreal. Call them a technology company but they still have to keep up and generate a significant market share.

Google says about 75-78 million autos are sold in a year, there is over 1 billion in use, there are currently say 7 million EVs in the world. Tesla sold under 500,000 last year , their quality is rated second worst of all 27/28 auto manufacturers by Consumer Reports, their ratings come from owners. Rivian has sold no vehicles yet, Toyota and VW sell about 11 million each year each.

Should you sell your auto company shares and buy Tesla and Rivian shares? Probably do well in the short term, but they have a long way to go to take over the world?

I have read on other forums that the Chinese automakers are the next wave to come, with a bunch of apparently well developed EVs.  The thought prevailing there (mostly pushed by one poster in particular) is that the Chinese companies have a more secure source for batteries and that the 'big 3' are going to be left out in the cold.  Tesla should be in good shape as well in that regard, apparently.

I find it a little hard to believe that the established car companies, who actually know how to make quality product are going to be pushed out by Chinese brands, who will probably make junk that doesn't stand up to our conditions.  It's the internet so you can't believe everything you read, but there are some interesting developments happening.

The EV stock bubble will burst, though.  Regarding the Chinese brands, not interested... I'll walk first, or take the bus.