Daimler to buy 10% stake in Tesla

[PoliPino]

Hopefully this will end up better than Daimler's deal with Chrysler...

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/19/d...and-engineeri/

Daimler buys 10% stake in Tesla, will supply parts and engineering

by Sam Abuelsamid on May 19th 2009 at 9:27AM Breaking

Mercedes-Benz/Tesla press conference – Click above for ABG's liveblog coverage

During a press conference held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart this morning, Dr. Thomas Weber, the head of research and development for Mercedes-Benz, announced that Daimler is buying a 10% stake in Tesla Motors. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was also on hand for the announcement. The companies did not specify the amount paid by Daimler, other than it was in the double digit millions. Daimler will be providing Tesla with engineering support and possibly parts that may go into the Model S. Tesla, meanwhile, will continue providing battery packs for the second-generation Smart ED starting later this year. Tesla will also focus on battery pack integration and battery management systems for Daimler going forward.

The deal will also give Tesla access to the automotive lithium ion cells being produced by Daimler's investment in Li-Tec, a joint venture between Evonik and Daimler. Weber announced that Daimler would commence series production of electric Smarts in 2012, with volume projections in the five digits.

Daimler's Prof. Herbert Kohler (who is in charge of e-drive systems at the German automaker) will take up a board seat at Tesla and oversee development at the California company. We live blogged the conference at AutoblogGreen this morning and the official press release is after the jump.

[Source: Daimler]

[astonv12]

I think that's a good move. Tesla is on their way up. If they can get a sport lux car in the $35,000 range to compete against the g37 and 3 series then they will make a killing.

[PoliPino]

Originally Posted by astonv12

I think that's a good move. Tesla is on their way up. If they can get a sport lux car in the $35,000 range to compete against the g37 and 3 series then they will make a killing.

I think Daimler is making a pretty good move too. I think Fisker has a better product model - plug-in hybrid > electric IMO - but Tesla has something strong too.

But I don't think there's any way we're going to see a $35K Lithium-ion luxury car any time soon. Lithium ion is just too expensive to make right now.

[Birdhouse]

Happy Birthday to Tesla! Man was a genius!