Tesla in deal with Daimler

[WarpedOne]

Elon said they've got a small deal with Daimler that had chances to grow into a big one. Question is are these 1000 battery packs a small or a big deal?

 

[graham]

Elon said they've got a small deal with Daimler that had chances to grow into a big one. Question is are these 1000 battery packs a small or a big deal?

We assume this is the "small deal". Elon has mentioned this week that he had hopes that this could turn into "tens of thousands" of battery packs if this first 1000 was a success. So I would assume that is the "big deal" he is hoping for.

 

[TEG]

Most of the announcements talked of a battery only deal, like this:

• Daimler only planning to use Tesla batteries for first 1,000 smart eds
• Electric Smart Car to Have Tesla Batteries - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com
• Tesla to provide batteries for Daimler Smart EV - Los Angeles Times

but now we are hearing that maybe it really is for full drive-trains.

Tesla Town Hall meeting with owners - News - PlanetTesla

"...secured a deal to supply drive trains for the SMARTe...

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/news...hall-meetings-jan-26-27-2009-a.html#post20138

true next generation {powertrain} is what they're doing for Daimler...
water cooled

Perhaps the first SmartEs will use a Tesla battery pack with a non-Tesla eMotor and controller, but they are thinking about going with Tesla eMotor later?

 

[TEG]

Comments from the Town Hall meetings do basically confirm that Tesla is working on an eMotor for Daimler. I still don't think that has exactly been officially announced yet. I guess they only have go ahead to talk about battery pack sales for now. Perhaps the eMotor sale isn't a fully done deal yet? Perhaps Tesla is working on a Smart ready eMotor but Daimler hasn't committed to using it yet?

(Crossing my fingers that a SmartE with a full Tesla drivetrain shows up for sale in the USA sometime soon).

 

[Young]

Comments from the Town Hall meetings do basically confirm that Tesla is working on an eMotor for Daimler. I still don't think that has exactly been officially announced yet. I guess they only have go ahead to talk about battery pack sales for now. Perhaps the eMotor sale isn't a fully done deal yet? Perhaps Tesla is working on a Smart ready eMotor but Daimler hasn't committed to using it yet?

(Crossing my fingers that a SmartE with a full Tesla drivetrain shows up for sale in the USA sometime soon).

The motor is an essential part of the charger in AC Propulsion's reductive charging system. They use the winding of the motor as inductor for their charger. Daimler can provide the motor according to the spec, but it makes a lot of sense for Tesla supply the motor as a package.

 

[dwell]

Is a $59,000 electric vehicle really considered "affordable"?

When will a truly affordable electric vehicle be designed and built for the rest of us? We don't need electric Maseratis, we need electric Ford Tauruses. Environmentalism should not be the province of the rich, a luxury only the credit card elite can afford.

 

[Palpatine]

When will a truly affordable electric vehicle be designed and built for the rest of us? We don't need electric Maseratis, we need electric Ford Tauruses. Environmentalism should not be the province of the rich, a luxury only the credit card elite can afford.

Someone needs to finance the R&D before this technology will work in a Ford Taurus. Do you want to contribute your $100,000? Or would you rather have George Clooney and Paul Allen do it for you?

 

[stopcrazypp]

When will a truly affordable electric vehicle be designed and built for the rest of us? We don't need electric Maseratis, we need electric Ford Tauruses. Environmentalism should not be the province of the rich, a luxury only the credit card elite can afford.

I don't think anyone said the Model S was "affordable" but it is a mass market car (around 5-series, E-series prices and those are mass market cars).

If you are referring to the electric Smart car, then you probably read the Jalopnik article which erroneously said it was going to cost $49,900. It has since been corrected, since that price was referring to the Model S. I don't think they officially announced how much the electric Smart will cost.
Smart EV: Tesla To Supply Battery Packs For The Smart EV

 

[dpeilow]

@dwell,

Elon Musk said the Smart E is projected to sell for circa $20k.

Tesla Town Hall meeting with owners - News - PlanetTesla

Elon opened with some background: "We're at 15 cars per week today and hope to get to 30 per week in spring. We've secured a deal to supply drive trains for the SMARTe, a pretty compelling city car that will sell for around $20,000, it's an endorsement of Tesla's engineering."

I wouldn't call that an electric Maserati.

 

[Palpatine]

My company is selling the European version of the Smart car for about $17,000 in the USA. These are 2006 models that have never been titled.

We had a conversion company looking into doing an EV version. It would easily cost $20,000+ extra to use lithium and get 100+ miles of range. That is low volume doing 6 at a time.

We decided against it. I don't think a Smart EV will sell for $35,000 to $40,000.

 

[dpeilow]

Over here they retail at around £8500, so I'd imagine a glider was less than half of that trade. It would be foolish (considering where that was said) for Elon to say $20,000 and have to raise it later.

 

[doug]

Tesla Motors - think

Daimler Partnership

We announced last month at the Detroit auto show that we have been working with Daimler (maker of Mercedes) for over a year to create an electric version of the Smart car. Daimler has contracted with Tesla to build the battery packs and chargers for an initial run of 1,000 cars. Pending the results of that test fleet, the relationship could expand to tens of thousands of cars per year.

This is a very significant endorsement of both Tesla’s technology and our financial strength by one of the world’s most respected automotive companies. Daimler would not feel comfortable depending on us for this program if they felt that either our technology was easily replicated or that we were in financial danger.

Daimler was the first company to commercialize the internal combustion engine and has become a benchmark for automotive quality and reliability. It is an honor that they chose to work with Tesla after a thorough investigation of other options. The deal is likely to be the first in a series of strategic partnerships between Tesla and other auto manufacturers to engineer and produce electric cars.

My goal for Tesla from the beginning was to do whatever we can to help end the world’s addiction to oil. We’ll do that by making cars directly, helping other automakers develop cars, and serving as an example to the rest of the industry. Although the Roadster is still the only highway capable production electric car for sale in the United States, it was very encouraging to see that the central theme of the Detroit auto show this year was electric transportation.

 

[dpeilow]

Did we lose another post from this thread?


Anyway, looks like the Smart is hooked up to one of these chargers:

TH Radio Special: Inside Tesla Motors (With Pics) : TreeHugger

 

[doug]

Did we lose another post from this thread?

Yes, but it was in the Smart EV thread. We lost everything from Thursday evening where I made several posts and did a lot of clean-up stuff. I've been hesitant to redo that since I have yet to get a full explanation of what happened.

 

[TEG]

That charging station was mentioned here.

 

[dpeilow]

Looks like there is a third supplier for the Smart-e:

New lithium battery from Axeon nearly doubles Modec range - AutoblogGreen

Axeon not only supplies Allied Vehicles and powered that electric Ruf Porsche, but apparently is also working with Daimler to put its lithium in the smart ed.

Axeon shares power ahead on battery test success story - The Scotsman

Axeon's new battery appears to hold significant promise, with the latest test enabling a Modec delivery vehicle to potentially travel more than 200km on a single charge, at a maximum speed of 80km an hour.

The batteries are also highly durable, with a three -year warranty.

They are currently only available in delivery vehicles and electric minibuses sold by Glasgow firm Allied, based on the Peugeot Expert. Axeon is developing a new high-range battery for the Daimler Chrysler Smart.

 

[graham]

Daimler to expand car battery alliance -paper | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters

Daimler (DAIGn.DE) is looking for a third partner for its alliance with German industrial conglomerate Evonik [RUHR.UL] to develop and build advanced batteries for electric cars, a German newspaper said.

"We have been in talks for some time with various companies which could become an additional partner for our joint-venture with Evonik for the production of lithium-ion batteries," Daimler Research Chief Thomas Weber told Handelsblatt in an article to be published on Monday.

Are they referring to Axeon? Does this mean the Axeon deal has not been settled yet?