Elon Reeve Musk, 43 year old South African-born
physics major (Stanford) saw his childhood dream come true inventing what came
to be known as the "Best Car Ever Built," a zero emissions
electric car that is sought by thousands here today. The Model S, an all-electric plug-in car, earned a
score of 99 out of a possible 100 in the Consumer magazine's tests. The score would have been higher but for the fact that
the all-electric car does need to stop and recharge during extremely long-distance
drives. Elon's Resume is a thing to behold-- Entrepreneur, inventor, investor, founder SpaceX, PayPal,Tesla Motors Hyperloop, Zip2,Solar City etc.
His net worth is over $10 billion. --Read on Thanks Philip
The
company was co-founded by Martin Eberhard,
Marc Tarpenning, JB Straubel,
Ian Wright, and Musk,[47] after initial incorporation by
Eberhard and Tarpenning. Musk became involved with the company in 2004, as a Series
A investor.[48] Other Series A
investments groups included SDL Ventures and Compass Technology Partners.
Following the financial crisis in 2008,[49] Musk assumed leadership of the
company as CEO and product architect, positions he still holds today. Tesla
Motors first built an electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, with sales of
about 2,500 vehicles to 31 countries. Tesla began delivery of its
four-door Model S sedan
on 22 June 2012 and unveiled its third product, theModel X, aimed at the SUV/minivan market, on 9
February 2012. Model X is scheduled to begin production in early 2015.[50] In addition to its own cars,
Tesla sells electric powertrain systems toDaimler for the Smart EV, Mercedes B-Class Electric
Drive and Mercedes A Class and
to Toyota for the RAV4 EV. Musk was able to bring in both
companies as long-term investors in Tesla.[51]
Tesla
: Consumer Reports' best car ever tested
The Tesla Model S is a nearly perfect
car, according to Consumer Reports, with the only issue being its need to
recharge which could be a problem on long-distance trips.
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See what makes the Model S such a unique vehicle.
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"If it could recharge in any gas station in three
minutes, this car would score about 110," said Jake Fisher, head of auto
testing for Consumer Reports. Fisher called the car's performance in the
magazine's performance tests "off the charts."Musk has favored
building a sub-$30,000 subcompact and building and selling electric vehicle
powertrain components so that other automakers can produce electric vehicles at
affordable prices without having to develop the products in house.[ Several
mainstream publications have compared him with Henry Ford for his work on
advanced vehicle powertrains. To overcome the range
limitations of electric cars, Musk said in an interview with All Things D in May 2013 that Tesla is
"dramatically accelerating" their network of supercharger stations,
tripling the number on the East and West Coasts that June, with plans for more
expansion across North America, including Canada, throughout the year.[54] He is reported to have a 32%
stake in Tesla, which is valued at $18 billion, as of November 2013.[55][56] His annual salary at Tesla
is one dollar, and similar to Steve Jobs and others, the remainder of his
compensation is in the form of stock and performance-based bonuses
Depending on price, the Model S has driving range of
between 208 and 265 miles. A full charge takes about six hours from an ordinary
240 volt outlet, according to Tesla.
The Model S has already won awards from car magazines
like Motor Trend and Automobile, but Consumer
Reports is widely regarded as being the most influential magazine among car
shoppers. Consumer Reports, published by the non-profit group Consumer's Union,
purchases all the cars it tests and does not accept paid ads.
The score of 99 means the Tesla (TSLA) Model S, a sedan
that can seat as many as seven people, performed as well or better than any
automobile the magazine has ever tested. The score is not unprecedented -- most
recently, it was earned by the Lexus LS460 in 2009 --
but no car at any price has ever scored higher.
Prices for the Model S start at about $70,000, not
including federal and state tax incentives for electric cars.
The Model S tied for the quietest vehicle the magazine
has ever tested, was among the most energy-efficient and had excellent scores
for acceleration, braking and ride quality.
