Tesla may get into the gas station business

When AutoblogGreen interviewed Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard a couple of months ago, Martin emphasized that they were intent on creating a sustainable business out of building sustainable mobility cars. With Job 1 for the Roadster coming in a few months Tesla is now working on expanding its potential revenue streams. Earlier this week they announced a new division to sell their battery pack technology to other carmakers starting with Norway's TH!NK.

If they are successful in building battery powered cars and the technology spreads to other carmakers, we won't need so many gas pumps but drivers will still need to top up. Tesla has announced a $561,000 grant from the California Energy Commission to develop public charging stations. They will be working on 16kW stations that are UL approved and can be used by drivers at public locations to charge their electric vehicles. Grants also went to UC-Berkeley, UC-Davis and the Electric Power Research Institute.

[Source: Tesla Motors via AutoblogGreen]

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