Volkswagen, BYD May Team Up on Plug-In Cars

Alternative energy is going to gain importance in the years to come.  Batteries and electricity will be at the forefront of this technology.

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen AG said it and Chinese battery and auto maker BYD Co. will explore options for teaming up on hybrid and electric vehicles powered by lithium batteries, a move that highlights global auto makers’ efforts to secure supplies of batteries for alternative vehicles.

In addition to Volkswagen, BYD is also talking to Ford Motor Co. and another European auto maker about similar arrangements, those people said

While lithium-ion batteries are seen as the technology that will ultimately power most plug-in cars, their successful use has been hindered by relatively high price, limited durability and safety concerns. BYD says it has largely resolved those issues by turning to a safer, more cost-effective technology called iron-phosphate-based lithium-ion technology.

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Russian Investment Group Offers to Invest $200 Million in Facebook

Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian Internet investment group, has offered to invest $200 million in Facebook Inc. at a $10 billion valuation for the company’s preferred stock, according to people familiar with the matter.

DST, which is run by Russian businessman and Internet investor Yuri Milner, couldn’t be reached for comment. DST owns pieces of a number of Russian Internet properties including Russia’s largest Web site Mail.ru and a Polish social-networking site. A Facebook spokesman declined to comment on the offer.

If Facebook accepts the deal, it would be the first time it has raised a significant round of funding in a year and a half. At the end of 2007, it took an investment from Microsoft Corp. that valued the company’s preferred stock at approximately $15 billion.

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