Tesla Reportedly Paid $3 USD for Patents to Create Cleaner Electric Car Batteries

Tesla has apparently paid just $3 USD for a set of patents that can help the automaker develop cleaner electric car batteries.

According to a new report from TechCrunch, the patents were purchased just weeks before Tesla’s Battery Day presentation in September last year, when the company revealed that it has found methods to significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing EV batteries by making the process cleaner and reducing the amount of water and energy waste required. It now seems that the technology came from a small Canadian startup named Springpower International, which developed processes to recirculate the chemicals and contaminated water used in battery production, and Tesla had paid just $3 USD for the patent applications covering the technology.

Digging deeper, the publication also discovered a potential acquisition from Tesla of Springpower, which was never officially made public. Many of the Canadian firm’s employees had listed Tesla as their new employer on LinkedIn following the patent transaction, and its CEO also frequently shares updates regarding the electric vehicle manufacturer. When reached out for comment, n executive at Springpower could neither confirm nor deny the acquisition, and since Tesla has shut down its public relations department, no one from the automaker had responded either.

It’s not the first time Tesla has purchased other companies under the radar. Back in 2019, it secretly acquired Hibar, another battery company operating out of Canada.

In other automotive news, Uber has partnered up with Arrival to develop an EV tailored for the ride-hailing industry.