Tesla files emergency lawsuit against Cybertruck supplier holding tooling for ransom
Tesla has filed an emergency federal lawsuit against supplier Angstrom Automotive, which holds tooling and parts unique to the Cybertruck — Angstrom demanded an extra $250,000 a week after announcing it would close its plant, and with no other supplier able to make the parts, Tesla says Cybertruck production could run out of supply within days without court intervention.
The dispute traces back to July 13, when Angstrom told Tesla it planned to close its Troy, Texas facility. Tesla's complaint alleges Angstrom then demanded an extra $250,000 a week to keep the plant running — a demand Tesla calls an attempt to hold its own property "for ransom."
A shipment of 700 finished parts due to leave the plant on July 17 never shipped, and when Tesla sent representatives accompanied by law enforcement to the facility on July 21, they were turned away. Tesla filed for an emergency federal court order on July 23 to force Angstrom to open the plant so it can retrieve its tooling.
The equipment at stake — described in the filing as large die-cast machinery, trim dies, fixtures, cutting tools, gauges, and X-ray inspection gear — is purpose-built for specific Cybertruck castings. According to the complaint, no other supplier can currently produce these parts, and rebuilding the tooling from scratch would take five to six months.
Thousands of Cybertrucks already assigned to customers are tied to the parts in question, and the complaint warns supply will run out "in mere days" without court intervention. Teslarati, EVXL, and Bloomberg Law have separately corroborated the filing's details.
Summaries are prepared by the Tesla Briefing editorial team and may not capture every nuance of the original reporting. You are solely responsible for your own investment decisions.