BMW open to sharing battery technology with rivals

Automotive News Europe reports that BMW is open to sharing battery technology with rivals. Following Tesla's strangely-worded and qualified (though the qualification is hard to spot) announcement that it was giving up the exclusive rights that patents confer in the interest of increasing the electric vehicle parc, BMW are hoping that sharing battery cell technology will bring down the unit costs of making the things. The story doesn't mention dropping its exclusive arrangement with Samsung, though: and depending on which way the exclusivity runs, that means either that BMW won't be able to shop around or that other carmakers won't be able to buy from Samsung, so sacrificing economies of scale; or perhaps both. Either way, it all seems just a bit odd.