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Don’t buy into Tesla’s battery biz: Bob Lutz

Tesla: Game changer or game over?
VIDEO2:5202:52
Tesla: Game changer or game over?

Investors should hold off bets on Tesla Motors' new home battery product, Bob Lutz, a Via Motors board member and former vice chairman of General Motors, said Monday.

"I think [the battery] is greatly overvalued because having batteries as backup storage has been around for hundreds of years," Lutz said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "I can't understand the fascination with this."

Lutz made his remarks ahead of a speech by Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the Edison Electric Institute convention in New Orleans.

Tesla shares have risen nearly 25 percent since the company unveiled the Powerwall, a home battery.

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Still, Lutz said he believes the company remains unprofitable since its car business is "infinitely small."

"The company is also hemorrhaging cash," he said. "I'm not recommending 'sell' because I'm not an analyst, but if I was a holder, I would think that this is the top the stock's going to [reach]."

Tesla's stock rose 2.9 percent Monday.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.