A couple of weeks ago, we reported on a technology deal that Daimler AG and Tesla Motors are working on. While we thought the deal might involve the 1.0l smart fortwo engines, as Autoblog was claiming. According to AutomobilWoche, the deal involves lithium ion batteries that Tesla Motors will be supplying for the Mercedes-Benz electric cars. Mercedes probably realized that Tesla is much farther ahead in the development of long-lasting and durable lithium ion batteries than they are, which is why they opted to purchasing the batteries, instead of making them.
The process of making batteries for electric vehicles as well as hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius, is fairly complicated and resource heavy. In the Top Gear Supercar Fuel Economy Test that we posted a couple of days ago, Jeremy Clarkson shorty explains the process of making the batteries and also points out that more carbon and emissions are produced from making these batteries than they are actually able to save in the long run.
Err I thought A123 supplies batteries to Telsa.. so the question is way MB doesn’t directly to go to the source?
@godwin: Err, no. Tesla doesn’t use A123 batts.
“Tesla doesn’t make the individual batteries themselves, but they do make the battery packs, which is what MB wants…Tesla has spent years developing this Energy Storage System (ESS) and it wouldn’t make sense for MB to start developing its own right now.
The ESSs are basically boxes containing about 7,000 AA Li-Ion batteries, they weigh around 900 pounds, and and can hold approximately 53 kilowatt-hours of energy, and have numerous safety features.
You can read about it all right here
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog4/?p=59
by Danakin over at Engadget