Tesla reported fourth quarter and full year earnings yesterday and within its shareholder’s letter was information that revealed that they have begun a development program with Daimler. The cooperation between Daimler and Tesla is to build an electric Mercedes-Benz vehicle that uses a Tesla powertrain. Daimler is already an investor in Tesla and uses Tesla battery packs for the electric Smart cars.
Tesla stated that the electric Mercedes-Benz program will include use of a full powertrain — including the motor, gearbox, inverter and software — but Tesla didn’t go into details about timing of the launch of the car or volumes of production of the car. Tesla says it’ll recognize revenue from the program beginning in the second quarter. The Mercedes-Benz deal is Tesla’s latest good news, following the unveiling of its third car the Model X model in Los Angeles last week.
