Martin Eberhard is the Co-founder and President of Technology at Tesla Motors. Before Tesla, he was the Co-founder of Network Computing Devices and the CEO of NuvoMedia.


MP3 File Subscribe via iTunes Add to del.icio.us

"What keeps me up at night is the complexity of the problem," Martin reflects upon engineering the Tesla Roadster.

After founding various successful startups in the computer and internet space, Martin took a departure and co-founded Tesla Motors with Marc Tarpenning. With a passion for cars going back to his childhood, his goal is to create a sleek, high-performance all-electric vehicle.

The highly anticipated Tesla Roadster will go from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds, drive 245mph on one charge, and will be powered by the equivalent of laptop batteries. Owners in the first shipment include Matt Damon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and of course, Martin himself.

We catch up with Martin at the Tesla Motors headquarters in San Carlos, CA. In this interview, check out what Martin has to say about creating a startup car company, his reflections on risk taking, and the engineering and market challenges in the electric car milieu.

Check out the Roadster!




A Roadster prototype at the San Carlos headquarters.

Thanks to Roger Gill for contributing to this podcast.
Correction in the video: the Roadster drives 245 miles per charge. Top speed is 125mph.


- Min Liu and Nir Eyal