Through cynical eyes, BMW’s i division is a hyper-expensive experiment that hedges against strict emission laws, all so Munich can preserve developing cars that truly make a profit. Although this is true, there are many tangible advantages to BMW’s sophisticated carbon fiber manufacturing—such as driving down the material’s cost and receiving ahead of competitors—and now it has even drawn the praise of one Elon Musk. Yep, overlook the diesel and hybrid Bimmers that sell for regular-ish money—Tesla CEO Musk is turned on by the i lineup’s exotic building.
According to a Der Spiegel interview translated by Reuters, Musk has been chatting with BMW executives about a possible collaboration that would include the sharing of lightweight components and batteries. Musk says he desires to open a battery plant in Germany inside the subsequent 5 to 6 years—his “Gigafactory” in Reno, Nevada will be on-line in 2017—and that the carbon fiber components on the i3 and i8 were “relatively expense-efficient.” Tesla itself has not confirmed any deal with BMW, only that a “casual conversation” amongst a self-made billionaire and some German engineers did in reality take place.
As items sit, both firms are all-in on electrification and currently have alliances at play. BMW is functioning with Audi and other researchers to develop carbon fiber that is 90-% less costly as it triples material production to 9000 tons a year. It’s also tagging along with Mercedes to standardize wireless charging and recently signed a deal with Toyota to develop much more effective lithium-air batteries (in addition to jointly-building a new sports vehicle and advancing Musk’s favored brand of haterade, hydrogen fuel).
Smile! You are on corporate collaboration candid camera!
Tesla, aside from spending billions to construct the world’s biggest battery plant for an expanded lineup of higher-volume cars, doesn’t have any willing automotive partners who’d like to split R&D expenses. And while Tesla investors do not genuinely seem to care about such items right now, sooner or later they’d like to see the firm make a profit every quarter or 2. A partner like BMW—which has sold only about 13,000 i models since late 2013 versus the 50,000 Model S sedans Tesla’s peddled since 2012—would be important to producing true income.
Tesla still builds powertrains for the electric Smart For2, Mercedes B-class Electric Drive, and Toyota RAV4 EV, yet these are limited-time contracts for quite little numbers of vehicles. (Toyota is killing the RAV4 EV in about a month, although Daimler sold its 4-% Tesla stake around the very same time.) BMW is one of the handful of key automakers to invest so heavily in electric vehicles, even if numerous of the Bimmer EVs are really plug-in hybrids, anything Musk also derides. (In the very same Der Spiegel interview, he associated them to “an amphibious automobile, not excellent in the water and not ideal on land.“) But do not anticipate that to be a deal-killer after all, Smart, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota predominantly build fossil fuel–powered autos, and, generally, Musk does not say issues with out putting his considerable funds exactly where his mouth is. So, humble observers , you would be smart to watch how this small “conversation” concludes.
Collaboration, LLC: Tesla Might Tap BMW For Carbon Fiber, Exchange Battery Tech
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder