Electric car company Tesla Motors revealed during its fourth-quarter earnings announcement that the company was partnering up with Mercedes-Benz on another electric-car project.
For the new Mercedes, Tesla will provide the battery packs, motor, gearbox, inverter and all related software. It will start to record sales for the contract starting in the second quarter. Mercedes has not released details about the new vehicle.
Tesla and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, have been in close ties ever since Daimler invested $50 million (before selling off 40 percent of its stake) in Tesla and is using its battery packs in for Smart Fortwo electric cars.
Tesla also said it has 8,000 pre-orders for the Model S and has already logged 500 reservations for a Model X crossover announced earlier this month.
Tesla also announced year-end revenue of $204 million, up 75% from 2010. Despite bringing in more money, Tesla lost about $254 million in 2011, which is a 65% increase in losses compared with 2010.
