A lawsuit brought Tesla and Xiaomi, which is building cross-border cars, into the spotlight. According to Tianyancha’s court hearing information, on October 10, Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., as the plaintiff, sued Bingling Intelligent Technology (Changzhou) Co., Ltd. for trial in the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court. The cause of the case was "disputes over infringement of technical secrets and unfair competition." Just half a year ago, Bingling Intelligent Technology had just undergone industrial and commercial changes, and Beijing Xiaomi Intelligent Manufacturing Equity Investment Fund Partnership became an important external shareholder.
On October 10, in response to a reporter from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, relevant people in Tesla China revealed that during his employment, a former Tesla R&D employee named Gu took advantage of his position to illegally download a large number of Tesla vehicle technical secrets, and privately provided technical services to Bingling Intelligent Technology (Changzhou) Co., Ltd., suspected of leaking Tesla's technical secrets. After investigation, Tesla fired Gu in September 2022 and decided to file a lawsuit against Gu and Ice Zero Technology.
The founder once worked for a Tesla supplier
Ice Zero Technology was established in May 2022 and is mainly engaged in the research and development, manufacturing and sales of automotive parts, including integrated circuit chips, current sensors, DC relays, etc.
Jia Yongping, founder and general manager of Bingling Technology, graduated from the Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanics of Tsinghua University. He once worked for Sensata Technology, a supplier of Tesla, responsible for the R&D and marketing of new energy vehicle products, and served as the marketing director for Greater China and India. Jia Yongping has publicly stated that he is very optimistic about the continued growth of the automotive sensor application market.
The business of Bingling Technology founded by Jia Yongping is also related to smart car sensors and components. Industrial and commercial information shows that the company's business scope includes engineering and technology research and experimental development; integrated circuit chip design and services; sales of electronic components and electromechanical component equipment; sales of electronic products, etc. Currently, Bingling Intelligence’s five public patents mainly involve sensors and DC relays.
The market share of key new energy sensor and controller products was previously mainly occupied by foreign brands, and there is huge room for the localization of automotive grade sensors. Ice Zero Technology was established in May 2022, and it is said that it achieved 15 million orders that year.
What is attracting attention is that in March 2023, Bingling Technology underwent industrial and commercial changes, and its registered capital increased from approximately 2.5031 million yuan to approximately 3.2819 million yuan, with new shareholders including Beijing Xiaomi Intelligent Manufacturing Equity Investment Fund Partnership. Among them, Xiaomi's Intelligent Manufacturing Equity Investment Fund holds a shareholding ratio of 11.86%, second only to founder Jia Yongping in terms of shareholding ratio, and has become an important external shareholder.
Tianyancha shows that Bingling Technology made a change in its business scope in early August 2023, and the new business mainly involves auto parts and electronic devices. Its main products are energy efficiency management sensors, which are mainly used in battery system management, motor drive control, power modules and other three electrical systems of new energy vehicles. Public information shows that the founding team of Bingling Technology are all from well-known multinational companies in the field of sensors and controllers, and have rich practical experience in industrialization.
In fact, this is not the first time that Tesla has sued a Chinese smart car-related company. As early as March 2019, Tesla filed a lawsuit against a number of former employees suspected of misappropriating the company's trade secrets, including Guangzhi Cao, who had already joined Xpeng Motors. He was sued by Tesla for allegedly stealing the source code related to the Autopilot driving assistance function before leaving Tesla.
The latest refreshed version of Tesla Model 3 produced at Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory
Xiaomi is making plans through equity investment
Intelligent new energy vehicle industry chain
Xiaomi, which has crossed over from the smartphone track to the smart new energy vehicle track, is stepping up its efforts to build cars. Xiaomi Motors has recently launched large-scale recruitment. Relevant recruitment notices show that Xiaomi Motors needs positions such as general assembly workers, die-casting equipment operators, battery operators, and maintenance workers. At the same time, Xiaomi is also recruiting for non-production positions such as marketing team and autonomous driving technology team. In addition, Xiaomi Motors has started the screening process for delivery centers.
In late August, Lei Jun and Xiaomi Group President Lu Weibing were found to have participated in road testing of Xiaomi cars in Xinjiang. A team photo posted on Lei Jun's social account showed that Lu Weibing and others were holding banners with the words "Fight for Xiaomi Cars."
At the previous Xiaomi Investor Day, Lei Jun said that Xiaomi Motors is expected to be officially mass-produced in the first half of 2024. Lu Weibing also said previously that the progress of car manufacturing has exceeded expectations.
Industry insiders said that due to confidentiality agreements, currently among A-share companies, except for companies such as Koting Information and Sanan Optoelectronics, there are not many companies that have disclosed that they have reached product supply relationships with Xiaomi Motors. "What has surfaced is only part of it. Under the water, there are actually more listed companies that have quietly entered the smart new energy vehicle 'Mi Chain'."
Who will buy the power battery, the core component that accounts for the largest cost? Recently, it was reported that Xiaomi Motors’ battery supplier has undergone new changes. This year, Xiaomi Motors’ first- and second-tier battery suppliers have been finalized by China Aviation and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd.
In this regard, relevant people from CATL and China Airlines told the Shanghai Stock Exchange reporter that no relevant information has been disclosed yet. However, the person in charge of China Airlines stated that Xiaomi had previously invested in China Airlines. China New Aviation is the third largest power battery manufacturer in China after CATL and BYD.
People close to Xiaomi Auto said that, similar to Ice Zero Technology and Zhongxin Aviation, Xiaomi has laid out the smart new energy vehicle automobile-related industry chain through equity investment.
Before announcing the car-building, Xiaomi had deployed industrial chain companies such as SmartSing, BiEiWei, DioMicro, Amlogic, Nanxin Technology, Yidong Electronics, Zhuhai Guanyu, etc., involving vehicle manufacturing, automotive chips, materials, autonomous driving and other fields. After confirming the cross-border car manufacturing, Xiaomi Group, Xiaomi Yangtze River Industry Fund and Lei Jun's personal angel investment institution Shunwei Capital stepped up efforts to supplement important links in the industrial chain such as automotive semiconductors, power batteries, smart driving, smart cockpits, chassis, and molds. In addition, Xiaomi’s investment layout also includes lidar companies such as Hesai Technology and Sagitar Juchuang, which are the world’s largest sales companies.