Wirelane founder to file preliminary injunction against Tesla

In an interview, Constantin Schwaab talks about the legal dispute with the US company - and announces his next steps.

Wirelane founder Constantin Schwaab plans to take legal action against U.S. automaker Tesla, he said in an interview with Gründerszene announced. The reasoning: Tesla profits disproportionately from the infrastructure that Wirelane creates. Tesla charging points that do not comply with German calibration law jeopardize this offer. In the interview, Schwaab announced that he would apply for an injunction against Tesla with the aim of having all charging stations shut down.

Specifically, the dispute is said to be about charging stations in front of hotels and restaurants, Wirelane's most important customers. The whole dispute flared up after Schwaab warned against Tesla charging stations in a newsletter to this customer group. He said these were not compatible with German calibration law, and there was no guarantee that the correct amount of electricity would be billed. The U.S. automaker then issued a warning to Schwaab's company. For the founder, this legal dispute is a symptom of the entire charging infrastructure market. "In the past, people still worked together cooperatively. Today, people are issuing warnings and fighting over patents," he told Gründerszene.

For Schwaab, the letter campaign was a success despite the warning, he said. He could not give exact details on new deals since then, but there had been a great response to his letter. The turnover of the company, which was founded in 2016, is currently in the single-digit million range. Schwaab said the startup is growing at more than 100 percent annualized.