SF Motors, a U.S. subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Sokon Industry Group, has just paid $33 million to acquire a three-person battery technology startup started by Martin Eberhard, who is also co-founder and former CEO of Tesla Motors. Silicon Valley electric-vehicle and mobility outposts are suffering from brain drain as they poach from Tesla and one another, so the fledgling automaker saw the acquisition as the way to get an MVP for its effort to challenge the much admired California EV producer.
The company had already hired Eberhard as a consultant last year. With the recent acquisition of Eberhard’s battery startup, he was appointed SF Motors? chief innovation officer.
?Eberhard will focus on technology innovation, product development, product positioning, and branding?all with the goal of helping SF Motors meet global EV demands,? the company said in a press release.
Martin Eberhard, in a 2006 Tesla photo, with then California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
SF Motors? fascination with Tesla and its origins started earlier, with a proposed acquisition of AC Propulsion (ACP), the small California-based engineering firm mostly responsible for the car that became the original Tesla Roadster. Media reports suggested that the ACP purchase was a done deal, but it was actually abandoned shortly after Eberhard started advising SF Motors.
Not Exactly a Hardscrabble Startup
SF Motors is a young company?less than two years old?and a wholly owned subsidiary of Sok...