Dispute between eMotor and Elaris escalates

According to Elaris, the Austrian company eMotor had sued the company for unfair competition. Now Elaris is defending itself with a declaration to cease and desist and accuses eMotor of damaging its business.

The dispute between the two companies Elaris and eMotor is threatening to escalate. It started with a lawsuit by eMotor for unfair competition. According to a statement by eMotor, the German start-up Elaris would have no right to sell its Beo car model in Austria. The electric SUV is based on the ET5 from the Chinese vehicle manufacturer Nanjing Golden Dragon Bus. For this model, the sole distribution right for Austria lies with eMotor, which distributes the Skywell ET5, eMotor claims.

In addition, eMotor accused the German start-up of collecting money in a profit participation certificate model without sufficiently informing the small investors. The money would be used to pre-finance the vehicles. Because of the suspicion of having violated the Banking Act, the Bafin has already investigated, writes the Austrian company in its statement. The start-up Elaris, however, is not aware of any Bafin investigations. In response to a Startbase inquiry, Bafin said it does not comment on individual companies.

Elaris sees the whole situation differently. Since June, the exclusive distribution rights for various European countries, including Germany and Austria, have been with Elaris, the German start-up tells the electromobility industry service electrive.net. Elaris has also received a revocation from Nanjing Golden Dragon Bus.

Elaris is now defending itself against the accusations with a cease-and-desist letter. EMotor had scared off potential business partners of the start-up with untrue and business-damaging statements. Elaris demanded that the company "immediately cease all credit-damaging statements regarding Elaris GmbH or an alleged distribution right regarding the eSUV Skywell ET5 (ELARIS Beo) in public and correct the statements," the letter reads.