Tesla is often on the receiving end of litigation, but this time, it’s the one doing the suing. In court documents seen by Bloomberg Law, Tesla claims that one of its suppliers, Angstrom Automotive Group LLC, is withholding production tooling critical to the Tesla Cybertruck, demanding $250,000 per week for equipment that Tesla says it should have been allowed to take out of the supplier’s Troy, Texas facility before the doors were shut. Whichever entity is in the right, the fact that this dispute has reached the court system means Tesla is desperate to get its tooling back.
Tesla Cybertruck Production Could Be Negatively Impacted
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According to the complaint filed on July 23 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division, Tesla claims that it sent representatives to Angstrom’s Troy facility on July 21 to collect Cybertruck tooling equipment, but they were turned away. Tesla claims that Angstrom has never owned this tooling, nor has it invested in the design, manufacture, or acquisition of the equipment, adding that this tooling is specific to the manufacturing of Cybertruck parts and therefore has no real value to anyone else. The filing also claims that each piece of tooling takes five to six months to produce, so not only would replacing the tooling be costly and difficult, but Cybertruck production and delivery plans could also fall behind.
“Without the tooling, Tesla will be unable to manufacture several thousand Cybertrucks that are currently in or planned for production, most, if not all, of which are already committed to customers,” says the lawsuit. Tesla’s lawyers say this parts shortage “would cause irreparable harm for Tesla and others.” Thus, if Angstrom doesn’t allow Tesla to retrieve its tools, the automaker feels it’s entitled to “temporary and/or permanent injunctive relief or other equitable relief to obtain the tooling without the necessity of posting any bond or proof of action, injury, or damage.”
What This Means
Filing a lawsuit is a costly exercise, and the fact that Tesla is willing to take Angstrom to court means that these tooling components are critical to its Cybertruck production. If the tooling isn’t released, Elon Musk’s EV maker may be forced to delay deliveries by several months, so some customers may cancel their orders. The Cybertruck isn’t the most popular offering in Tesla’s lineup, and the few buyers it has attracted may look elsewhere, like the Rivian R1T. While this may not be Tesla’s fault, Tesla’s image will take a hit, and its earnings will likely suffer, especially since other high-dollar vehicles like the Model S and Model X are no longer in production.
About the author
Sebastian Cenizo
Senior Editor, Autoblog