It would seem that, where else can you dream work, if not Apple? And it turns out, is even possible – in Tesla. The well-known manufacturer of electric vehicles successfully luring currently leading employees’ giant apple.”

According to Bloomberg, for 150 ex-kupertinovtsy work for the benefit of the automotive corporation. One of the founders of Tesla Elon Musk said that the number of former in their state more than people from any other companies, including automotive. Bloomberg journalists viewed profiles of some top managers on LinkedIn, and found that many of them really worked previously for the benefit of Apple.

What motivates employees “apple” of the company to leave the company for Tesla? Really high salaries and career prospects?

First of all, say former kupertinovtsy it prospects of electric vehicles, and the identity of Elon Musk. It is often compared with Steve Jobs, and I must say, he does not mind. The same charisma, attention to detail, ability to think strategically and strong leadership skills. Apple’s influence on Tesla appears in the approaches to the design, to the design shops and many other aspects of the business. So there is nothing surprising in the transition frame no. At the new place they are likely to feel more than comfortable.

Electronics giant is trying to apply their methods headhunting, but it seems not so successful. Musk said his staff offers an impressive and bonuses of $ 250,000 and an increase of 60 per cent of salary. But were led to “apples” only a couple of people – compared to 150 in the opposite direction.

Apple’s interest to specialists automobile business is not surprising, given the development of the company in this field. Among them – CarPlay, Siri Eyes Free, as well as analogue “Google release” Street View. According to some, the most incredible rumors kupertinovtsy even threatened on its own unmanned vehicles.

Who will win in this battle for talent – is still unknown, but it is obvious that individual employees will benefit from this.

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Honda announced a new battery charger for electric vehicles – Honda NEN55, which is attached to the wall and is powered by solar energy. Honda NEN55 advantage is easy installation without the need for the erection of any additional buildings or sites. This in turn makes a new charger also cheaper and thus economically advantageous.

Honda NEN55 can be connected either to a conventional electrical outlet or extraction system of solar electricity. The amount of charge outputted new charger depends on the amount of energy generated by the solar battery.

New charger provides work without a mains connection, ie in the case of a power outage, the unit will continue its work. This feature is due to a volume backup power solar energy directly to the device itself.

Honda NEN55 will be shown at the end of January the 6th international automobile exhibition Electronics Technology Expo.

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Chief Designer of Tesla Motors announced that work on the budget of an electric vehicle that will use the new platform, will begin in early 2014.

During the interview with the resource Gigaom Franz von Holzhausen said that the future rival BMW 3 Series, codenamed Blue Star, would look “more expressive” than the recipient of numerous awards for design electric Model S.

To describe the design of a new electric vehicle Tesla Motors, the chief designer of the company used the term couture, which, literally translated from French means “high sewing”, but could not explain what he meant by that. Perhaps he was referring to the fact that the design of Blue Star will be more outlandish compared to the Model S and Roadster.

Previously, co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk has repeatedly reported that the cost of the budget electric Tesla Motors will be in the range of $ 30,000 – $ 35,000. Thus, the company is challenging not only the entry-level sedans BMW production or model Audi A4, but the more common vehicles, for example, Volkswagen Jetta.

Recall that for its new Model X crossover company Tesla Motors has chosen platform Model S. Thus, Model X employs about 60% parts Model S.

In an interview with PCMag Franz von Holzhausen said that the third generation car platform will reduce the cost of future electric vehicles.

Recall that at the moment all the resources thrown at Tesla Motors crossover Model X , which is due to start in 2014. According to preliminary data, the budget model will be commercially known as Model E and will be able to compete with the Chevrolet Volt with a power reserve of more than 300 km.

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How it all began

At the root of Tesla Motors, named in honor of the inventor Nikola Tesla, are Martin Eberhard (Martin Eberhard), Marc Tarpenning (Marc Tarpenning), Jeffrey Straubel (Jeffrey B. Straubel) and Ian Wright (Ian Wright), founded the company in 2003. Successful businessman Elon Musk, which is now inextricably linked to the name of the company, joined them in February 2004, on the stage of the first major sale of preferred shares as the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Left to right: Elon Musk, Mikhail Gorbachev and Martin Eberhard on the Global Green Award Ceremony 2006

Make an electric mass, a dream that has nurtured with Elon University bench. According to the words of the mask, he never considered Tesla Motors as the best facility for investing money or the company with which you can have profit. Her example he wanted to prove that beautiful electric vehicles with large reserve of one charge is no longer a fantasy.

In an interview, the current CEO Tesla Motors said that none of the existing car manufacturers do not need it, and gave the example of the situation with electric trolley General Motors EV1. Recall, GM withdrew its creation and has taken all of the issued serial models under the press, in spite of the people who accompanied them with all the honors, and even candles. According to the mask, if people are holding lighted candles, you should not cancel the product. This is what prompted the mask to Tesla Motors, and its main objective at the time was the electric car that can travel long distances and would be desirable for consumers.

Hard times and output Tesla Roadster

Since the early days of mass production of electric vehicles in Tesla Motors considered only in the long term and have decided to focus on the sports twin electric car Tesla Roadster, which was supposed to cover the initial costs. It is worth noting that Elon Musk has been involved in the development of each part of the first production electric car company, from the design of the power control module and ending with the design of the headlights. However, Mack did not penetrate into the daily routine operations. Over the next few years in the number of investors Tesla Motors are Valor Equity Partners, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, former eBay president Jeffrey Skoll and others. By 2007, the company Tesla in total was invested over $ 105 million

Electric Tesla Roadster

Serial production Tesla Roadster was originally scheduled for September 2007, but in the way of gaining momentum startups are having serious financial problems. It turned out that the cost of Tesla Roadster is much higher than its planned market value. After that followed a series of layoffs. Together with one-third of employees were fired and one of the founders of Martin Eberhard, and the output of the first electric vehicle Tesla Motors postponed due to difficulties in the assembly. Money in the account of the company came to an end and the mask had to raise the price of cars already on order.Had paid in advance clients started to get nervous, the first negative comments in the press. It is worth noting that the media began to bury the Tesla Roadster since the early days of its announcement.

Ilona The mask had a new team, to determine the list of tasks, which prevent the emergence Tesla Roadster, and to appoint the person responsible for the performance of each of them. Joint efforts at the beginning of 2008 the market is the first Tesla Roadster. In one of his blogs Musk said that after Eberhard had to find new suppliers and partially or fully processed almost every major component of an electric vehicle. As a result, in order to bring the Tesla Roadster to the market, instead of the planned $ 25 million it took $ 140 million

Electric Tesla Roadster is based on a Lotus Elise, which was not the best solution, as Tesla Motors is not allowed to significantly modify the design elements, developed by the British manufacturer. The cost of basic modification Tesla Roadster eventually was reduced to $ 109,000, while the sports version of the electric car manufacturer has been estimated at $ 128,500.

Tesla Roadster became the world’s first electric trolley with lithium-ion battery, which is the size of a few thousand times that of a conventional battery installed in the laptop. He also became the first production car on electricity, which managed to pass on one charge of more than 320 km (record result – 501 km at an average speed of 40 km / h).

On the verge of bankruptcy

After the start of deliveries Tesla Roadster Elon Musk immediately announced plans to hold an IPO, to penetrate the European market, the construction of the plant in California, and announced the sedan Model S (codenamed Whitestar). To implement these goals, the company needed an additional $ 100 million, but was not willing to invest, and he turned to existing investors. To save the company, Musk put into it their last savings. For Tesla Motors came the most difficult times: the closure of the office, the reduction of staff quarters, senior care, and transfer the output Model S. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and has taken over the reins of Elon Musk – on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Second wind and sale of Tesla Motors on Wall Street

In March 2009 was shown a prototype sedan premium Model S, which immediately struck a lot of negative comments skeptics. However, in May the first light in the gloomy darkness hanging over Tesla Motors, Daimler AG were investments of $ 50 million, and in June the company was able to get a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy in the amount of $ 465 million as part of a “green” Advanced Technology Vehicles Program Manufacturing Loan Program.

In June 2010, Tesla Motors has also conducted an initial public offering on the NASDAQ under the ticker TSLA. Contrary to all disappointing forecasts and estimates, in the first day share price has risen more than 41%, and the company was able to raise $ 226 million worth noting that Tesla Motors is the first automotive manufacturer in the U.S., released on the secondary market securities since Ford (the latter shares began trading in 1956.)

Tesla Model S and the first profit

Supplies of electric Tesla Model S in the U.S. began in June 2012, in Europe, a little later – in August of 2013. Limited batch of 1,000 electric cars Tesla Model S Signature and Signature Performance, manned battery capacity 85 kWh and cost $ 95,400 and $ 105,400, respectively, sold like hot cakes.

Electric Tesla Model S Signature

Later, Tesla Model S was offered in two versions: with a battery capacity of 60 kWh and 85 kWh of power reserve of more than 300 km and 400 km on one charge.

On account of Tesla Model S is quite a lot of achievements. First, at the moment it is electric with the largest reserve of one charge. Second, he has excellent speed performance. From 0 to 100 km / h Performance modification to the battery capacity of 85 kWh accelerates in just 4.2 seconds, while top speed is 210 km / h Earlier this year, Tesla Model S even managed to race (drag racing) around double gasoline sporty Dodge Viper SRT10 and get the title of the fastest production electric vehicle in the world. And thirdly, if all the above merits Model S is still the safest (NHTSA rating system) .

The second serial electric Tesla Motors has surpassed all expectations. The company managed to increase output models Model S, to repay the government loan of $ 465 million and for the first time in 10 years of history to make a profit (first quarter 2013).

Problems and solutions

Embody one of his dreams – transplanted residents of the U.S. for cars with zero emissions, Ilona mask impeded by two major problems: poor infrastructure charging stations and long battery charging. Unlike most manufacturers, Tesla Motors managed to cope with these tasks. Designed for electric Tesla battery can pass on one charge of more than 300 km, and that is enough for traveling at close range.

The charging station Supercharger

To solve the problem long charging, company Tesla Motors has built a network of charging stations Supercharger. With a power of 120 kW, they allow for 20 minutes to charge the battery electric vehicle by 50%. It should be noted that the stations are set on the roof of solar cells, which provide part of the energy, reducing the load on the network. For the most impatient Tesla Motors offers the possibility of complete replacement of the battery pack in the Model S on special exchange stations. The entire process takes about 90 seconds.

By the way, the owners of Tesla Model S battery with a capacity of 85 kWh can “refuel” at Tesla Motors branded stations for free. Supercharger option can also be enabled when you make a pre-order on the Tesla Model S, its cost – $ 2000. At this point in the U.S., there are only 23 fast-charging stations, there are 6 more in Europe, but by 2015 the company “fueling» Tesla Motors occupy the United States and parts of Europe. More clearly the company plans to demonstrate the images below.

So Supercharger station will capture the U.S. and Europe:

The future of Tesla Motors

The following year the company Tesla Motors is going to start mass production presented to the public in February 2012 Crossover Model X. A distinctive feature of this model are the rear doors, hinges fixed to the roof and were called “wing hawk.” Electric car will also be equipped with battery capacity of 60 kWh or 85 kWh Despite the fact that the interior is designed for 7 seats, electric trolley itself differs impressive performance: acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h in less than 5 seconds. According to preliminary data, the Model X in the United States will vary in the range of $ 50-100 million, depending on the configuration.

Electric Tesla Model X

Undoubtedly, the electric Model S and Model X are not available to everyone, but for the past 3-5 years, Tesla Motors will release a model available for $ 30,000, which will further undermine the dominant position in the market of vehicles with internal combustion engines.

In the near future Tesla Motors also reducing battery charging stations for Model S Supercharger 5-10 minutes , the construction of plants for the production of electric vehicles in Europe and Asia, as well as the development of its own autopilot system .

If the company is really targeting the European market, then Ilona Mask and his team should take into account the climatic conditions peculiar to the continent. Winters are quite harsh and at temperatures ranging from -20 ° C to -30 ° C Battery charge any electric vehicle is significantly reduced. With such low winter temperatures electric car in any case can not be left at night on the street or in a parking lot near work without first connecting it to a power source that is not very convenient. Hopefully, the CEO Tesla Motors will be the task in force, and electric vehicles on our roads will appear more and more frequently.

To perform the first task – to prove to the world that electric cars can be profitable – at Tesla Motors took ten years. On turn more global mission – transplanted to electric cars the U.S. and Europe, getting rid of oil dependence. Will the “David” in the face mask Ilona in an unequal battle to defeat “Goliath”, embodies the oil companies, the government and automakers negative mood?

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It is now known that the National Authority for Road Safety (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA) received a complaint of unintended acceleration on one of the production models Tesla Model S. This is the resource MotorAuthority .

According to the owner of the popular electric car in the United States, at the time of the incident was at the wheel of his wife. Owner Model S claims that his wife was moving in a residential area at a rate of no more than 8 km / h and at the same time to time the brakes. After some time the electric accelerated and collided with the curb. For a split second Tesla Model S is vertical, dangling on a fence height of 1.4 meters.

After examining the data from the on-board computer electric vehicle, an engineer at Tesla Motors in the report, which was provided to the owner Model S pointed out that in a split second the pressure on the accelerator pedal has increased from 18% to 100%, and blamed the dispersal of the driver.

Interestingly, in the electric throttle Tesla Model S integrated limiter which is triggered when the force exerted on it exceeds 92%.

After a complaint was filed with the NHTSA, the company Tesla Motors declined to comment, citing the fact that the investigation is not over yet.

It will be recalled that a similar situation occurred in the recent past with Toyota. Then the Japanese giant had to recall their own cars and sustain a loss of several million dollars. It is hoped that the Japanese scenario will not happen again for Tesla Motors.

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The idea of ​​self-cars not only excites the minds of the engineers of Google. Currently, about their plans in this field, the company said Tesla Motors. During the interview with the resource Financial Times Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk (Elon Musk) officially confirmed that the company is working on a autopilot system.

Mr. Musk shares the view of most analysts that the cars will be fully self-managed a very long time, and poses the following problem Tesla Motors – over the next three years to develop a system to which it will be possible to shift control of the car by 90%. According to the mask, the technology will be developed from scratch.

It is worth noting that Tesla is not the only company that develops self-cars. These technologies offer of Mercedes-Benz, GM, Volvo and Continental. However, for various reasons, they are still in the testing phase.

The German company Daimler AG, which includes Mercedes-Benz, and the company Nissan, has recently reported that they both hope to start delivering self-cars by the end of this decade. Many believe that the plans Mask relatively self-cars look quite ambitious, but let’s not forget about his achievements in the recent past.

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