Last week, Elon Musk got the ol’ rumor wheel a-spinnin’ when he hinted that Tesla and BMW were having informal talks about a collaboration on battery and lightweight-composite technologies. With both companies betting big on electric vehicles, a joining of forces didn’t seem unfathomable. But BMW said nein: Officials told the German business magazine Wirtschafts Woche that BMW has no plans of working with Tesla and that Musk’s assertions were nothing more than a PR stunt.
In a conversation with Wirtschafts Woche, unnamed BMW officials indicated that Musk’s informal conversations with the German carmaker carry minimal significance. The officials weren’t just out to dispel rumors—they accused Musk of name-dropping BMW “for PR purposes,” hinting that Musk mentioned BMW to fill the gap left by the ending of Tesla’s relationships with Daimler and Toyota.
To be fair, Tesla spokeswoman Kathrin Schira told Automotive News last week that the electric-car company’s conversations with BMW were wholly casual. Still, the cynical spin from BMW’s unnamed insiders goes beyond the usual “no comment” you’d expect from a giant carmaker trying to slow down the rumor wheel.
The BMW folks also said that the German automaker has no interest in collaborating on the German battery factory Musk hinted at last week. And while Musk expressed interest in the high-strength, low-cost carbon-fiber composites used in the i3 and i8, the BMW people said the company is willing to work with anyone, not just Tesla, when it comes to the materials.
So as of right now, it sure looks like BMW and Tesla will remain rivals, rather than partners, in the electric-vehicle market. With BMW announcing just yesterday that it plans to offer plug-in-hybrid variants of every major model, you can expect the battle for battery-powered supremacy to heat up. Unless, of course, BMW’s sharp-tongued rebuke toward Musk is a PR stunt of its own.
Via: CarandDriver
