![Atvus electric car to be built by Atieva [image: Recode, via California public-records request]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/atvus-electric-car-to-be-built-by-atieva-image-recode-via-california-public-records-request_100577721_t.gif)
There's no shortage of putative rivals to electric-car maker Tesla Motors, from German luxury makers to other California startups. Thus far, of course, none have actually put a car on sale—unlike Tesla, which has sold somewhere north of 125,000 cars since 2008. One of the least-known is Chinese-backed Atieva, located in Silicon Valley since...