Uncalibrated charging stations at car giant Tesla: Munich entrepreneur is suing Elon Musk

Created: 2022-12-31Updated: 2022-12-31, 12:50 p.m

By: Andreas Thieme

Entrepreneur Constantin Schwaab is suing Elon Musk © Achim Frank Schmidt

A Munich entrepreneur is taking Elon Musk to court.

Constantin Schwaab from Wirelane accuses the Tesla boss of unfair competition and wants to have its operation of charging stations banned because they are not calibrated.

Schwaab explains to our editors what his legal goal is.

Munich - He fights for his views - and does not shy away from the big opponents.

Constantin Schwaab is an entrepreneur in Munich. In the state capital, the company founder and his company Wirelane build and operate charging stations beyond the German state borders.

Schwaab is now taking legal action against the industry giant Tesla and has obtained an injunction.

He accuses him of unfair competition and a violation of the placing on the market and making measuring devices available on the market that are not permitted.

Munich is suing Elon Musk

In essence, it is about calibration law.

This guarantees, for example when filling up, that consumers also get what they pay for.

In the case of Tesla, Schwaab now doubts that their charging stations for electric cars are actually calibrated.

As a result, they would have to be banned or removed if Schwaab wins in court.

To the annoyance of industry mogul Elon Musk and his Texas electric car giants.

Elon Musk at a press event on the Tesla Gigafactory site in Grünheide.

© Patrick Pleul/dpa Pool/dpa

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Munich sues Elon Musk - "In times of exploding electricity prices, an absurdity"

In concrete terms, the problem arises that uncalibrated charging stations lead to inaccurate measurements during charging, explains Schwaab.

As a result, the operators have no choice but to give away electricity to customers.

In times of skyrocketing electricity prices, this is absurd,” criticized the Munich entrepreneur, who had also informed charging station partners about the inconsistencies – also with regard to the billing for use.

Tesla then warned Schwaab not to do this, which naturally annoyed Schwaab.

However, the differences could not be settled in writing - now the courts have to rule on them.

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Munich: Entrepreneurs from the state capital are taking Tesla boss Elon Musk to court

"We don't want to harm Tesla," says Schwaab in an interview with our editors.

"When Tesla started building the superchargers in Germany about ten years ago, it was not even clear that the operation of the charging stations was subject to German calibration law." That started a complex process that revolves around the calibration of the devices.

In the application of the pillars, which are used by more and more people, it is ultimately about correct billing.

This is simply not possible without calibration, says Schwaab.

However, the reference to this is not yet a violation of competition law, the Munich defended himself.

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In the USA, a Tesla driver was stuck on Christmas Eve – his car could no longer be charged in the cold.

(Iconic image) © MiS/Imago

Munich is suing Elon Musk - and is waiting for a court decision

After Tesla warned him, he decided to take a closer look at the matter.

Result: With the support of a specialist law firm, Schwaab issued the temporary injunction on December 12th.

With the aim of shutting down Tesla's charging infrastructure - "until it conforms to calibration law," says Schwaab.

Tesla has already lodged an objection on the grounds that our order is not an urgent matter.

Schwaab now wants to wait and see how the court decides on the case.

He sees two options: Either his request for a disposal is granted - then Tesla would have to shut down all charging stations in Germany that are billed.

Or it will be rejected, in which case the matter will go into a regular procedure.

Either way: It remains exciting in the fight between the Munich David and the Texan Goliath.