FILE PHOTO: The Daimler logo is seen before the Daimler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

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.

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.

Upon being asked whether Daimler could pool purchasing of battery cells together with rival BMW, Kaellenius declined to comment, but said: “If there were formats that are suited to our vehicles, I would not rule out this possibility.”