Tesla swerves, will sell high-tech batteries to others

May 22, 2007 | Matt Marshall
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teslatwo1.jpgTesla Motors, the electric sports car start-up, has created a new division to sell its high-tech batteries, and that it has taken a $43 million order from a Norwegian car maker.

Chief executive Martin Eberhard has just blogged about the move.

The Norwegian electric car maker, Think (see image of the Think car, below), will buy the lithium-ion battery packs and will bring Tesla $3 million this year and $40 million in 2008, according to additional details in a Mercury News story to run tomorrow.

Tesla has developed a new division, the Tesla Energy Group, to develop and make battery packs for Tesla’s vehicles and the growing market for such high-end batteries elsewhere.

(Update: Turns out, Michael Kanellos first mentioned the strategy move back in January. The actual order amount is what is new.)

think.jpgTesla said Bernard Tse, a private investor, will head its Energy Group. Tse founded Wyse Technology, and is a former Tesla board member.

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About the Author,

Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.

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