FILE PHOTO: The Daimler logo is seen before the Daimler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2018. REUTERS\/Hannibal Hanschke<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n GENEVA (Reuters) – Daimler is open to collaborating with a rival on the design of electric car battery cells as carmakers struggle to bring down the costs of launching electric cars, research and development chief Ola Kaellenius said on Tuesday. <\/p>\n Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has already earmarked 20 billion euros ($22.65 billion) for buying battery cells from suppliers and is exploring a development partnership with rival BMW in the area of autonomous vehicles as a way to lower its costs of research and development. <\/p>\n Upon being asked whether Daimler could pool purchasing of battery cells together with rival BMW, Kaellenius declined to comment, but said: \u201cIf there were formats that are suited to our vehicles, I would not rule out this possibility.\u201d <\/p>\n Reporting by Edward Taylor; editing by Jason Neely<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n