Tesla buys company that makes supercapacitors and battery parts

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Tesla plans to acquire Maxwell, an American producer of supercapacitors and battery components. An agreement has been concluded for this purpose. The acquisition, worth more than $200 million, has yet to be approved.

Maxwell reports that a definitive agreement was signed on Monday that will see the company acquired by Tesla. Elon Musk’s company is offering $4.75 per share, bringing the total consideration for the acquisition to approximately $218 million. The acquisition is subject to approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Even though supercapacitors are better able to store high peak currents compared to lithium-ion batteries, the acquisition is probably not so much about getting supercapacitor technology. While this alternative energy storage and release technology is much faster to charge and lasts compared to lithium-ion batteries, the main drawback is a much lower energy density. This makes supercapacitors not very suitable for consumer electronics or electric cars, for example. Maxwell supercapacitors are used in Chinese hybrid buses, among other things, but then they are only used as a supplement, whereby the braking energy is used to recharge them.

In the press release, Maxwell reports that the agreement is associated with a number of uncertainties and risks, including the extent of change and innovation in the field of dry electrodes. Maxwell has been developing this relatively new technology for some time, which is intended for lithium-ion batteries in cars. Using this technology would increase the energy density of the batteries used by Tesla, allowing greater range or requiring fewer batteries. In addition, it would be cheaper to produce these batteries based on this technology and the batteries should last longer.

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