Tesla working with Daimler for electric smarts?
Chalk this one firmly in the rumormill category, but Johnathan Bodily over at Street Import Online is reporting that he's seen what appears to be an electric smart fortwo at Tesla's facility in San Carlos plugged into a Tesla-branded charging station. What's more, this particular smart differed from other fortwos in that it lacked a tail pipe. We know that Daimler has been running second-generation smart ed's (with lithium ion batteries from an unknown source) around various locations for a little while, and that Tesla has stated that it has signed a few deals to supply batteries to other companies for their electric vehicle projects. Putting this final piece of the puzzle together, it appears we have enough circumstantial evidence to conclude that the Silicon Valley company is provided the batteries to Daimler for its new electric smart cars.
Hopefully, this collaboration will bear fruit in the form of both electric smart cars in America and provide Tesla Motors with some of the working capital it needs to continue forward with its Model S electric sedan project. We contacted Tesla for an official response, and as expected got a definitive "no comment." Next question, is Tesla providing the battery packs for the MINI E? Any camera wielding readers who happen to be in the in the San Carlos, CA area might want to cruise past Tesla's office and see if they can snap a picture of any cars plugged in outside the front door. If you do, drop us a tip and we'll tell you how to send us your photos.
[Source: Street Import Online]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
srDRIVEN 5:06PM (10/22/2008)
is "ED" really the wisest choice for marketing/packaging this idea? maybe i'm still an immature 13 year old on the inside, but i did chuckle initially.
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Cray 5:09PM (10/22/2008)
I like the SMART vehicles, but ever since Daimler pillaged Chrysler I have detested the them. Tesla needs to get as far away from Daimler as they can.
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Gabagool 5:11PM (10/22/2008)
You know what i want to see Tesla do?
SELL CARS
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srDRIVEN 5:18PM (10/22/2008)
couldn't agree more. perhaps we should also ask them to sell cars outright, without transmission vouchers....
zamafir 5:29PM (10/22/2008)
I drove an electric smart half a decade ago, do i get a cookie?
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scenturion 5:40PM (10/22/2008)
I dont know if this is entirely legit. I drove my company 1988 Honda CRX EV [conversion] to the Menlo Park dealership, and I'm sure they would have let me plug it into a charging station if I had asked. All you need is an adapter that converts from the wall charger to the high voltage (think dryer plug) outlet
Someone could have driven their own Smart EV to the dealership and they let him plug it in.
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rwcmick 6:39PM (10/22/2008)
I don't know about this one. i just spoke w/ the receptionist at the San Carlos facility and she said that a couple of employee's have smarts but that it wasn't something the company was working on. She was very friendly, straightford and didn't seem like she was giving me a company line.
Could she be lying? I guess so.
Could she be unware of a secret project? There is a chance.
That's the scoop that I have for you on this one. I suppose I could drive over there, since my HQ isn't far away, but it's hot and I don't feel like giving up my parking space.
rwcmick
All Cars, All the Time
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rwcmick 6:42PM (10/22/2008)
the again there is this from edmunds...
We spied an electric Smart Fortwo prototype that we weren't supposed to see while on a visit recently to the Tesla Motors facility up in Northern California.
We don't know if this means that Tesla is angling for a contract to convert gas Smarts to EVs for a local dealer who wants to get a jump on the crowd, or was showing Smart engineers a prototype being developed for the automaker itself.
blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/03/smart-fortwo-ev-test-coming-to-the-us.html
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jake 7:58PM (10/22/2008)
Could be possible. After all Tesla basically already has a battery pack and drivetrain design that is ready to go, using commodity cells rather than special cells that would be harder to source, which saves R&D for Daimler.
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Mi key 8:18PM (10/22/2008)
I'm surprise that Smart hasn't already started leasing these type of vehicles to the public like Mini has.
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Chidfreegearhead 9:51AM (10/24/2008)
Just when you thought the Smart car couldn't get any gayer.
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