li-tec
Latest
Smart Fortwo EV gets delayed until September, 'unspecified problems' to blame
Bad news for those of you waiting on that updated Smart EV. The faster and longer-lasting third generation city-dweller previously scheduled for delivery in "early 2012," has just been delayed until September. According to Daimler, the culprit is "unspecified problems" at battery cell provider, Li-Tec. But before jumping to explosive conclusions, the auto maker quips there aren't any "technical or quality problems with the batteries." Curious, yet also a bummer, as frankly, a $22,000 EV with 87 miles of range couldn't come soon enough.
Daimler buys 10% stake in Tesla, offers parts and know-how
Daimler and Tesla have been working together in a limited capacity for some time now, but the two made their relationship official in a pretty big way earlier today, with Daimler announcing that it has bought a 10% stake in Tesla, and that it'll be lending a hand with both parts and engineering. Of course, as with most things Tesla, there's no firm price tag attached to the deal, although it's said to be in the "double digit millions." They're a bit more specific when it comes to the working relationship, however, which will apparently include Tesla "leveraging Daimler's engineering, production and supply chain expertise" in ways that'll "accelerate" bringing the Model S to production. Tesla will also reportedly work on battery pack integration and battery management systems for Daimler from here on out, and the two will continue to collaborate on Daimler's second-generation Smart ED electric vehicle that's slated to go into production later this year. Interestingly, as AutoBlog points out, the deal also gives Tesla access to the automotive lithium-ion cells being produced by Daimler subsidiary Li-Tec which, when we're talking about electric vehicles, is no small thing.
