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Google has some new friends working on its self-driving car
Apparently following the adage about keeping your friends close and (potential) enemies closer, the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit hosted Elon Musk last night and followed up today with Chris Urmson of Google. He's the director of its self-driving car project, and while there are no big-name car manufacturers lined up as partners yet, he did call out seven particular industry friends providing various parts for the latest prototypes. That includes LG (battery), Bosch (LIDAR), ZF Lenksysteme (steering gear), RCO, Continental and FRIMO, while Roush is helping to actually put it together here in the Detroit area. There are also NVIDIA chips inside, which Urmson said run mostly Linux software "with some other stuff happening." He confirmed that Google has talked to the usual list of big names (GM, Ford, Toyota, Daimler, etc.), and hopes cars are ready to go by 2020.
Elon Musk: Tesla will make 'millions' of cars per year by 2025
While the Auto Show's press preview events are winding down, it's time for the Automotive News World Congress to take over, and tonight it featured a sit-down with Elon Musk. During the interview, Musk answered questions about everything from, "Where is the Model X?" (coming this summer) to whether or not he's a good boss (The Wall Street Journal says no; Musk says "not all the time.") He said that he expects Tesla's production to reach millions of cars per year by 2025, which is part of the reason he's focusing on the Gigafactory -- more battery production will be needed first. ("If it doesn't drive down the cost of batteries, I should be fired," says Musk.) First, however, he expects the company will be profitable by about 2020. You can check out some of the quotes collected in tweets after the break, or read impressions posted by the Detroit Free Press, Autoblog or The Verge.
