2011 Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell battery electric vehicle (Europe only)

2011 Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell battery electric vehicle (Europe only)

Tesla and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, have been in close ties ever since Daimler bought a stake in the Californian electric car company.

As part of its purchase deal of Tesla’s stock, Daimler would receive batteries and the technical expertise needed to bring an electric car to market.

So far we’ve already seen this pact bear fruit in the form of the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive and Mercedes-Benz A Class E-Cell.

However, during Tesla's fourth-quarter earnings announcement earlier this week, where it was revealed that Tesla had already taken in $40 million worth of advanced sales for its upcoming Model X electric crossover, the company also announced that it would work with Mercedes-Benz on another electric car project.

Tesla is to provide the battery packs, electric motor(s), gearbox, inverter and all related software. Unfortunately, no other details on the collaboration were revealed but the news has got us wondering.

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell

Mercedes’ performance arm AMG has its own E-Cell electric car in the works based on its SLS AMG supercar, however, a battery supplier and technology partner for this particular car have already been announced, in this case, Deutsche ACCUmotive.

Deutsche ACCUmotive is also the official partner for the production version of last year’s B Class E-Cell Plus concept, a range-extended electric version of the new Mercedes B Class, so we can rule that model out as well.

One possibility is an electric version of the new third-generation A Class, perhaps a continuation of the previous A Class E-Cell project.

Only time will tell.

Stay tuned for an update as more details on the collaboration between Tesla and Mercedes-Benz progresses.