Tesla Motors' looking to license Roadster's battery technology
After the glamorous unveiling of Tesla Motors' ultra-speedy, purely electric vehicle, it didn't take long for deep-pocketed believers to throw down their deposits for the yet-to-be-released Roadster. But apparently appeasing head honchos isn't all that Tesla's about, as it's now considering licensing the outlandish (albeit very remarkable) battery technology to other firms looking to jump in the EV game without all those up front R&D costs. In an exclusive interview with AutoblogGreen, the firm stated that Tesla "had been in talks with other companies" in an effort to get their 7,000 Li-ion cell pack out to other companies. While they couldn't pry much deeper than that, the biggest upshot to grabbing its technology is the UN-approved label that's been slapped on the 56 kWh, 366V Li-ion pack; its proprietary "redundant active / passive safety features" help prevent propagation of a "thermal runaway event" (read: an explosion), which certainly helps when trying to get your electric vehicle past those pesky regulators. Nevertheless, Tesla Motors is currently testing crashing "10 to 20 vehicles" in Europe to make sure all systems are go, and we can't help but hope a few more muscle car competitors that don't drink octane show up real soon.
