According to Reuters, Tesla and energy storage company Maxwell Technologies, Inc. have reached an acquisition agreement, the former will acquire the latter at a valuation of $218 million, which will be shared at $4.75 per share.

 

The move will help Tesla strengthen its competitiveness in energy storage and electric vehicle batteries. In the long run, it will also help the company spread costs.

 

Under the terms of the deal, each stake in Maxwell Technologies will be replaced proportionally with Tesla shares, which have been suspended in U.S. stock trading today.

 

Founded in 1965, Maxwell Technologies is a contract research and development service provider to U.S. government agencies that began to pivot into the commercial arena in the 1990s. With corporate headquarters in San Diego, California, European offices in Switzerland, and sales and customer service in Germany and China, the company employs more than 350 people worldwide.

 

Maxwell has become a global developer and manufacturer of energy storage and transmission solutions for industries including automotive, heavy transportation, renewable energy, backup energy, wireless communications, industrial, consumer electronics, satellite and spacecraft radiation hardened Microelectronic components and systems.

 

According to a high-level description of Maxwell Technologies, the company has developed a "dry electrode/solvent free electrode" technology that can significantly improve the range and reduce the cost of electric vehicles.

 

In addition, the company also has core products such as supercapacitors and high-voltage capacitors. It is unique in its high power density, long life, fast charge and discharge, and stable and reliable performance in extreme temperatures.

 

There is no doubt that Tesla sees the potential of applying such products to the field of electric vehicles.

 

It is understood that before reaching an acquisition agreement with Tesla, Maxwell Technologies had technical cooperation with a number of automakers.

 

In May 2018, the company provided Geely Auto with "supercapacitor" technology to help boost the "maximum power" of its hybrid models.

 

In Maxwell's $100 million strategic agreement with Geely Group, Maxwell will supply multi-cell supercapacitor subsystems with power electronics that will be used in Geely and Volvo mild hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrids on an electric car. The vehicles will be available first in North America and Europe, with production beginning in late 2019.

 

Thibault Kassir, vice president and general manager of Maxwell Energy Storage, revealed at the time: "Current solutions to support vehicle electrification combined with batteries are less used in pure electric vehicles. Therefore, it is very exciting to see whether its proprietary dry electrode technology can be used. for batteries."

 

Faced with the rise of electric vehicle manufacturers in many countries, especially China, Tesla is facing severe competitive pressure. "Tesla is about to face a real opponent, and it has to move faster," said Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth Capital Partners.

 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is very optimistic about supercapacitor technology, and even studied it as early as 2013. It once tweeted: "I am a fan of supercapacitor technology. I am going to Stanford University to pursue a Ph.D. in this field."

 

Obviously, Tesla also wants to be the first to take the technology high ground before the technology has caught the attention of most EV makers.

 

Currently, the exclusive supplier of Tesla's electric car batteries is Panasonic. In January, a news that "Tesla has now signed a preliminary agreement with Tianjin Lishen Battery Co., Ltd. to provide batteries for the company's new car factory in Shanghai, with a view to reducing Tesla's dependence on Japan's Panasonic" was reported. Tesla refuted the rumor, saying that it only received an offer from Tianjin Lishen but did not process it further.

 

In addition to electric vehicle batteries, Tesla itself has other energy storage businesses, such as its Powerwall line of products for homes. Maxwell's related technology will also help Tesla to enhance its competitiveness in the field.