Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors
Alec Brooks joins Tesla as Director of Vehicle Technology
Tesla has beefed up their engineering staff again by hiring Alec Brooks as their new Director of Vehicle Technology. Alec is well known to many EV fans as the Project Manager and Chief Engineer on the GM Impact concept which eventually evolved into the EV1. After his time at General Motors ended he worked as AC Propulsion as Chief Technology Officer and was part of the team behind the tZero electric prototype. Interestingly, the unavailability of tZero was what prompted Martin Eberhard to start Tesla. More recently Brooks has worked on a vehicle-to-grid demonstration project and remains a prominent advocate of electric vehicles.
[Source: Tesla Motors]
Electric Vehicle Pioneer Alec Brooks Joins Tesla Motors Team
With more than 25 years of engineering and design experience on projects like the GM Impact and EV1, Alec Brooks Brought on as Director of Vehicle Technology at Tesla Motors
SAN CARLOS, Calif. -- (July 26, 2007) -- Tesla Motors, a manufacturer of high-performance electric cars, has hired Alec Brooks as the Director of Vehicle Technology. Alec brings to Tesla Motors his experience as the Project Manager and Chief Engineer on GM's Impact Electric Car. The Impact was the inspiration for GM's production electric car, the EV1, and its existence helped prompt the California Air Resources Board to adopt their ground-breaking Zero Emission Vehicle mandate in 1990.
"Alec's experience and insight in the field of electric vehicle program development is unrivaled and he makes a welcome addition to the Tesla engineering team, said JB Straubel, Chief Technology Officer at Tesla Motors. "He joins a vibrant and dynamic engineering program and his contributions here will no doubt prove to be invaluable."
Prior to joining Tesla, Alec had previously held the role of Chief Technology Officer at AC Propulsion where he contributed to the development of the ground-breaking tzero prototype electric car and also led the first-ever vehicle-to-grid demonstration project with support from the California Air Resources Board and the California grid operator, the Cal ISO. He continues to be a proponent for, and expert in the field of, both vehicle-to-grid program development as well as public policy as it relates to the development of alternative fuel vehicle technology, including benchmarking electric vehicles against fuel cell alternatives.
With more than 25 years of engineering and design experience on projects like the GM Impact and EV1, Alec Brooks Brought on as Director of Vehicle Technology at Tesla Motors
SAN CARLOS, Calif. -- (July 26, 2007) -- Tesla Motors, a manufacturer of high-performance electric cars, has hired Alec Brooks as the Director of Vehicle Technology. Alec brings to Tesla Motors his experience as the Project Manager and Chief Engineer on GM's Impact Electric Car. The Impact was the inspiration for GM's production electric car, the EV1, and its existence helped prompt the California Air Resources Board to adopt their ground-breaking Zero Emission Vehicle mandate in 1990.
"Alec's experience and insight in the field of electric vehicle program development is unrivaled and he makes a welcome addition to the Tesla engineering team, said JB Straubel, Chief Technology Officer at Tesla Motors. "He joins a vibrant and dynamic engineering program and his contributions here will no doubt prove to be invaluable."
Prior to joining Tesla, Alec had previously held the role of Chief Technology Officer at AC Propulsion where he contributed to the development of the ground-breaking tzero prototype electric car and also led the first-ever vehicle-to-grid demonstration project with support from the California Air Resources Board and the California grid operator, the Cal ISO. He continues to be a proponent for, and expert in the field of, both vehicle-to-grid program development as well as public policy as it relates to the development of alternative fuel vehicle technology, including benchmarking electric vehicles against fuel cell alternatives.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kardax 1:20PM (7/27/2007)
Tesla sure is putting together a world-class staff. I hope they all get along :)
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Phil L. 2:09PM (7/27/2007)
Good news. I really hope this is a sign that Tesla has a bright future - and that their future, broad-market vehicles will become reality.
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Chris M 3:05PM (7/27/2007)
Good news for Tesla, bad news for GM. GM lost a lot of their best electrical engineering talent when they canceled the EV1, which is one reason why they are so far behind on their "Volt" project.
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Joseph 5:03PM (7/27/2007)
Well, when Alec Brooks was looking for a place to work, or Tesla Motors looking for someone to hire, I don't think that it would be a difficult choice to make!
Congratulatons Tesla Motors and Alec Brooks.
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Kent Beuchert 7:55PM (7/27/2007)
"Good news for Tesla, bad news for GM. GM lost a lot of their best electrical engineering talent when they canceled the EV1, which is one reason why they are so far behind on their "Volt" project."
Hard to find so many errors in one short paragraph. The VOLT project had no connection with the EV-1, which was a total flop. The only thing the EV-1 project taught GM was how NOT to build an electric car, i.e. wait for viable batteries before trying to build one, a thought that Tesla has not heeded in building their car, whose sole attractiveness has come from Lotus, not from any of Tesla's engineers. AS for the VOLT being behind, that's pretty nonsensical, since there is NO vehicle out there now that even approaches the VOLT in terms of economy, performance and styling and low initial cost. The VOLT is a direct elaboration of their fuel cell car, not of their EV-1. It architecture is nothing like an EV-1. The batteries still aren't "officially" ready for the VOLT, so that saying it could have been built earlier is rather naiive. Regardless, the EV-1's demise meant absolutely nothing - the EV-1 engineering had long since ended, with the second version in 1998 being pretty much the end of the road.
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Kardax 9:29AM (7/28/2007)
Kent Beuchert: In other words, everything GM says is exactly the truth?
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Chris M 7:49PM (7/28/2007)
When the documentary "Who killed the electric car" came out, GM went into damage control mode, trying to put their own spin on it. One of their claims was that the money spent on the EV1 project wasn't totally wasted, that the electrical technology and motor designs for the EV1 were later used for their fuel cell research and hybrid development. GM plans to use the same type of AC motor and inverter for their Volt. The same qualities that made the AC induction motor such a good choice for the EV1 also makes it a good choice for the Volt.
Unfortunately for GM, the engineering genius that designed the motor and inverter for the EV1, Alan Cocconi, quit when the EV1 project was canceled and formed his own company, AC Propulsion. Tesla Motors licensed some key technology from AC Propulsion for their own projects. Now, I don't know whether Alec Brooks ever worked for GM, but he did work for AC Propulsion and I doubt he would ever be willing to work for GM, given their history. The EV1 failed only because GM made it fail, and GM lost some of their best and brightest in the process.
Why is GM behind on their Volt project? Consider their competition: Toyota has working prototypes of their "plug-in" Prius using NiMH batteries and are ready to start field trials. Plug-in hybrid retrofitters like Hymotion are already in business and selling upgrades. Tesla Motors has several working prototypes, and will be shipping soon. At least 3 other high performance EV companies have working prototypes and will be selling within 2 years. On the other hand, the Volt concept was a flashy shell with a golf cart drive motor, not a functional prototype, just for show. The Volt Concept was a rush job, built in just 6 months, in a panic triggered by the stunningly succesful introduction of the Tesla Roadster. Without a working prototype, we have no assurance that GM will be able to meet their proposed cost or performance figures. Ironically, GM had been working on hybrid versions of the EV1, including serial "range extender" hybrids similar to the E-Flex design, and had built several fully functional prototypes, but cancelled all of them with the EV1 cancellation.
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David Lassiter 3:19PM (7/29/2007)
Kent Beuchert is a fake working for the oil / gas lobby and has posted on hundreds of websites through dummy email accounts. He has been posting for six years on this topic - ridiculous if you think about it. He has made up locations in McLean, VA and Tampa, FL and goes under the guise of a computer analyst. Regards - David Lassiter
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David Lassiter 3:19PM (7/29/2007)
Kent Beuchert is a fake working for the oil / gas lobby and has posted on hundreds of websites through dummy email accounts. He has been posting for six years on this topic - ridiculous if you think about it. He has made up locations in McLean, VA and Tampa, FL and goes under the guise of a computer analyst. Please forward any information you may have on him as I am writing a story. Regards - David Lassiter
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Chris M 6:42PM (7/29/2007)
Beuchert is a sock puppet? ROFLMAO! It's easy to trounce a sock puppet when you have the facts on your side.
Beuchert has also posted in the same style on the Tesla Motors blog:
http://www.teslamotors.com/blogs.php
If I'm not mistaken, he has also posted on the GM blog and several other auto and energy related blogs.
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