5
Big news this morning in Silicon Valley. From the Wall Street Journal Venture Capital Dispatch blog:
This morning at a press conference, German automaker Daimler AG
announced it invested a “double-digit million dollars sum” in Tesla
for a 10% stake. Daimler will also buy more of Tesla’s lithium ion
battery packs for the electric version of the Smart car slated for
deliver later this year, and work with Tesla on future versions of the
electric car. Tesla originally agreed with Daimler in January for an
initial run of 1,000 battery packs, and CEO Elon Musk said that deal
could eventually expand to include tens of thousands of cars per year.
This is a huge victory for Tesla, both from a revenue and funding
standpoint, since Tesla ran into financial problems late last year and
has been trying to get back on track. Musk has said all along Tesla will be profitable by mid-year….
announced it invested a “double-digit million dollars sum” in Tesla
for a 10% stake. Daimler will also buy more of Tesla’s lithium ion
battery packs for the electric version of the Smart car slated for
deliver later this year, and work with Tesla on future versions of the
electric car. Tesla originally agreed with Daimler in January for an
initial run of 1,000 battery packs, and CEO Elon Musk said that deal
could eventually expand to include tens of thousands of cars per year.
This is a huge victory for Tesla, both from a revenue and funding
standpoint, since Tesla ran into financial problems late last year and
has been trying to get back on track. Musk has said all along Tesla will be profitable by mid-year….
Der Spiegel also has a report: Daimler steigt bei Eletroauto-Pionier Tesla ein.
Let's hope this has a happier outcome than Daimler's last adventure in US auto manufacturing. Evidently Daimler is serious about its pledge to be petroleum-free by 2015.
