Elon Musk says Tesla is open to licensing its software and supplying powertrains and batteries to other automakers

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been very vocal on Twitter lately. On Tuesday, Musk said that Tesla is open to licensing software and supplying powertrains and batteries to other automakers. The electric car company has previously supplied batteries to Mercedes and Toyota Motor under separate partnership deals.

In response to a tweet from Teslarati, Musk said, “Tesla is open to licensing software and supplying powertrains & batteries. We’re just trying to accelerate sustainable energy, not crush competitors!”

Tesla is open to licensing software and supplying powertrains & batteries. We’re just trying to accelerate sustainable energy, not crush competitors!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2020

At this point, it’s unclear what types of batteries Tesla will supply. Tesla currently runs a battery joint venture with Panasonic Corp and also sources batteries from China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology and South Korea’s LG Chem. According to Reuters, battery manufacturing is an area that analysts and industry officials say the U.S. electric car maker has a competitive edge compared with legacy automakers.

Tesla is also planning to build its own battery manufacturing facility at its Fremont, California, plant under its “roadrunner” project.

Batteries are the most expensive and important component of electric vehicles (EV). Musk said in a recent earnings conference call that the real limitation to Tesla’s growth is battery cell production at an affordable price, and said the company would expand its business with Panasonic, CATL and LG Chem. In 2014, Musk also said Tesla would allow others to use its patents in hopes of speeding up development of electric cars by all manufacturers.