(Reuters) - Italian carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) has agreed to pay electric carmaker Tesla Inc hundreds of millions of euros so that the vehicles of Tesla are counted in its fleet to avoid fines for violating new European Union emission rules, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The step will let the Italian carmaker offset carbon dioxide emissions from its cars against Tesla’s, by bringing down its average figure to a permissible level, the FT said.
The report did not mention further financial details of the specific amount that Fiat Chrysler has agreed to pay Tesla.
The Italian carmaker formed an open pool with Tesla on Feb. 25, the report added, citing a declaration with the European Commission.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. Fiat Chrysler did not directly address the amount that it would pay but added it would “optimize the options for compliance that the regulations offer.”
“FCA is committed to reducing the emissions of all our products...The purchase pool provides flexibility to deliver products our customers are willing to buy while managing compliance with the lowest cost approach,” FCA added in a statement.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong/Mark Heinrich
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