In its latest bid to raise enough funds to build 10,000 electric cars by 2012, Daimler has sold off $2.7 billion worth of its shares to the Abu Dhabi government.

This isn’t an unusual move for Abu Dhabi companies. They have already invested in eco-friendly vehicles with Zap and Lotus.

Nor is this an unusual move for Daimler who has partnered with Evonik to develop and produce lithium ion batteries. They also partnered with Tesla Motors on the Smart Ed.