A123 Is Suing Apple For Poaching Battery Engineers

We’ve recently been writing about the growing speculation that Apple is poised to enter the automotive industry. Although nothing has been confirmed, there have been reports of a secretive automotive exploration project, sightings of an Apple-registered van in the Bay Area equipped with camera equipment, and information about the company vigorously recruiting Tesla employees. All of these stories have added credibility to the possibility that Apple is secretly planning its entry into the automotive world.

Now there’s additional evidence that the iPhone maker may be developing a car.

Electric-car battery maker, A123 Systems, is suing Apple for poaching some of its top engineers to build a large-scale battery division. In the lawsuit filed earlier this month in Massachusetts federal court, A123 claims that around June 2014, Apple began aggressively poaching its engineers that were leading some of A123’s most critical projects to pursue similar programs at Apple. The lawsuit states that this is in violation of the engineer’s employment agreements, which the company had in place to prevent them from joining competing companies. “Apple is currently developing a large-scale battery division to compete in the very same field as A123,” the lawsuit read. The company is also suing five former A123 employees. Apple has yet to respond to the allegations in the complaint.

A123 Systems is a pioneering industrial lithium-ion battery maker, which was backed by a $249 million U.S. government grant. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2012, sold off some assets, and reorganized.

Lithium-ion is a battery technology that can be used in a variety of applications, from computers to airplanes, however, A123 specializes in big batteries to be used in big machines, such as cars.

Not only does the lawsuit claim that the company had to abandon projects due to the departure of the engineers, but also accuses one of the five defendants, Mujeeb Ijaz, of helping Apple recruit among its ranks. “It appears that Apple, with the assistance of defendant Ijaz, is systematically hiring away A123’s high-tech PhD and engineering employees, thereby effectively shutting down various projects/programs at A123,” according to the lawsuit.

Additionally, A123 claims Apple has made attempts to hire battery engineers from other companies, including LG Chem Ltd, Samsung SDI Co Ltd, Panasonic Corp, and others. None of these companies have commented yet on these claims.

Although it’s important to note that Apple has not announced any plans to enter into the automotive industry, there is a growing amount of information that makes it appear the company is at least researching next-generation car technologies. Building a car would certainly mark a dramatic shift for Apple, and the company does often research projects that do not ultimately come to fruition.

Will Apple build and release an electric car? Or will the maker of the iPhone and iPad become directly involved in the manufacturing of an autonomous vehicle?

Although it’s only speculation at this point, the fact that the company has been hiring many former Tesla employees, combined with information on LinkedIn that Apple has been siphoning automotive engineers with expertise in autonomous driving technology, it seems big moves are coming soon. Stay tuned as we’ll be watching closely and reporting as this story evolves.