long ago , Tesla Motors , American electric car manufacturers , announced it would make the car applying otopilot . Tesla will be entered into the competition ring with Google and leading car producers other . Among other things, giant German car company , Daimler AG , and the Japanese car manufacturer , Nissan .
Daimler and Nissan aims to launch their otopilot car in 2020 . Meanwhile , Google aims to launch a " self - driving car " in the next 5 years . Compared to rivals , Tesla had a very ambitious target . Elon Musk , CEO of Tesla Motors , said it would develop a car with the otopilot system independently , within " only " 3 years .
As many as 90 percent of the car system will be controlled by a computer system . Why only 90 percent ? According to Musk , the process of developing a car that is 100 per cent controlled by the computer system will take longer . In addition , the role of humans is still required to control the vehicle .
Who is Elon Musk ?
Elon Musk is not a new player in the technology industry . Many people even dub entrepreneurs " eccentric " and futuristic as Tony Stark in the real world , even though he did not compete bath superhero ( Iron Man ) .
Musk is known as one of the founders of PayPal . He also initiated the commercial spaceflight by SpaceX , the rocket company and spacecraft maker he founded in 2002 . So, I wonder if he dared to put ambitious targets for Tesla Motors , which no other company is also hers.
Elon Musk was born and grew up in his father's home country , South Africa . Men born June 28, 1971 This is the eldest of three brothers . His father was an engineer and owner of a construction company . While his mother , a native of Canada , is a dietitian .
Since childhood , Musk likes to read books . He could finish two books in one day . In addition to science fiction comics , he also put a great interest in matters relating to space .
Musk love for technology started when his father presented him with a computer . At that time , only 10 years old Musk . With the computer , Musk learned to make his own computer program . At the age of 12 years , Musk has been selling homemade software . The first software it sells is a space themed game . Game titled " Blastar " that he sold for 500 U.S. dollars .
When he was 17 years old , Musk moved to Canada . He left Canada in 1992 , to study business at the University of Pennsylvania , USA . He graduated with a degree in economics , and continued his studies in the department of physics .
Since the beginning , Musk has set 3 fields who want to become the focus . The third field was thought important to the future of humanity, the internet , space , and clean energy ( clean energy ) .
Zip2 and PayPal
In 1995 , Musk moved to California and enroll for the graduate program in the field of energy physics at Stanford University . However , studies at Stanford it only lasted 2 days . Musk out of college for a startup pioneer ( pioneering internet company ) with his brother Kimbal Musk .
Startup was named Zip2 , provides software for online content publishing industry . Shortly after being founded , Zip2 managed to get investment from some big media companies , such as The New York Times , Hearst Corporation , and Knight Ridder .
In 1999 , Zip2 was acquired by AltaVista that when it was bought by Compaq . With the acquisition value of over 300 million U.S. dollars , Musk brothers were in the group of young millionaires in America .
Backtrack a year back, in 1998 , Musk and several colleagues founded X.com , an online financial services . A year later , X.com acquired Confinity , a company that provides mobile money transfer system between devices that are popular at the time, namely the Palm Pilot . After the acquisition , the name was changed to PayPal X.com .
In 2002 , PayPal was acquired by eBay for $ 1.5 billion in stock . Before being acquired eBay , Musk is the largest shareholder of PayPal , which is as much as 11.7 percent . This acquisition adds to the value of wealth Musk automatically .
Musk 's success through Zip2 and PayPal is proof of the power of his vision in the field of internet .
SpaceX
To adulthood , Musk not forget his obsession about outer space . He wanted to realize its vision to bring people into space .
In 2002 , Musk using part of his fortune to establish a Space Exploration Technologies ( SpaceX ) , a company that develops rockets and spacecraft for missions to outer space. Until recently, he served as CEO ( chief executive officer ) as well as CTO ( chief technology officer ) of the company.
In 2008 , SpaceX won a contract worth 1.6 billion U.S. dollars from NASA . One of the important projects in the partnership is the development of rocket technology made the first liquid , Falcon 1 , which was launched into Earth orbit in 2009 .
In 2012 , SpaceX also make a breakthrough with the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and the first commercial cargo aircraft , " SpaceX Dragon " , to the International Space Station (International Space Station or ISS ) in Earth orbit .
Tesla Motors and SolarCity
Musk 's vision in the field of clean energy he's come up with establishing an electric car company , Tesla Motors , Inc. in 2003 . The first product is the Tesla electric sports car Tesla Roadster nicknamed . Approximately 2,500 units of the car was successfully sold to 31 countries in the world .
In 2012 , Tesla Model S launch series , car type electric 4 - door hatchback . Tesla also announced it will begin to produce the Model X , a diversified electric car minivan or SUV ( sport utility vehicle ) , in 2014 .
In addition to producing electric cars , Tesla also sells electric powertrain systems to other car manufacturers . Among them , Daimler AG and Toyota Motor . In fact , Musk also managed to make both the car manufacturers that they invest in Tesla .
Musk concern for the environment is also her show with a major investor in SolarCity , a leading provider of clean energy which is aimed at fighting global warming . In 2012 , Musk announced Tesla Motors collaboration with SolarCity .
Musk gait is enough to make it deserve to be called as " Tony Stark " in the real world , and the participation in the competition Tesla Motors car tech otopilot will certainly shift the trend as well as put pressure on the auto industry to move forward .
