California-based Tesla Motors, earlier during the year, announced that they will be opening up their electric car technology to the world by sharing their patents. BMW followed suit by opening up its patents related to battery cell technology that it co-developed with Samsung SDI. Now, the two companies (Tesla and BMW) are in talks to see whether they can collaborate in battery technology, or charging stations.
The news was confirmed by Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk to German Magazine Der Spiegel recently. He also told the magazine that he thinks Tesla will have a battery plant in Germany in 5-6 years. In the interview, Musk said that the talks entered around potential collaboration in developing future battery tech, and charger stations, which could allow for greater interoperability between electric vehicles from both brands, as well as faster advances in improvements to EV power tech.
However, these talks are not to be dwelt upon as they are just informal and are in the initial stages. Tesla is looking at some of the technology used by BMW to manufacture its i3 compact commuter and i8 sports car, which use electric power. BMW employs carbon fibre in the chassis construction for these vehicles, which makes for more lightweight vehicles overall, which in turn means batteries can drive the cars for longer without requiring a recharge.
This is certainly a good sign for those hopeful about the future of EVs. Closer to home, there has been encouraging news of Tesla making an entry into the Indian market with a new car that has been codenamed – Tesla Model 3.
Source: Reuters
