Letters from Silicon Valley - Weeks 6&7: Tesla Motors, Vulcanised Rubber and Innovation

By Andrew McCalister on May 5, 10 07:22 PM in

Over the past few weeks I have been lucky enough to meet with the CEOs and Co-Founders from some of the most innovative companies in the Valley.

Two of the most enlightening have been with Alan Barton CEO of, Lehigh Technologies, and Marc Tarpenning, Co-Founder of Tesla Motors.

From a technical standpoint it was great to chat with Alan about Lehigh's manufacturing process. The company enables vulcanised rubber to be recycled in high end goods such as car tyres, which was previously not possible. The process for doing this is remarkable, involving chopping the rubber, freezing it with liquid nitrogen and then putting it through a grinder that Alan describes as a 'jet engine with teeth.'

Beyond the technical aspects, I found it illuminating to hear Alan's opinions on the UK's approach to innovation. An ex-pat himself, he reminisced that the factors were all in place for top UK talent to once again start leaving its shores, just as it did after the last major election when Labour lost power 30 years ago.

"It would be very interesting to see how many graduates of the UK's top universities pack their bags over the next two to three years". Perhaps a way to dilute this potential impact would be to promote immigration, sorry....'job creation'. A UK start-up Visa anyone??

Another highlight over the past few weeks was having lunch with Marc Tarpenning, Co-Founder of Tesla Motors, the first electric car company to truly break the connotation that electric propulsion and performance can't be mentioned in the same vicinity.

I found it extremely insightful talking through the companies initial market approach, intentionally distancing themselves from the other electric vehicle options. Promoting the performance side of the propulsion method, as opposed to the environmental pros being advocated at the time.

Another interesting factor is the companies focus on creating powertrains for other manufacturers. Hence, by the time electric power reaches it's inflection point Tesla will be the go-to supplier, having millions of road test miles completed. A figure they would never have reached by only testing through their own vehicles.

The full interviews will be put live on the Intruders TV cleantech channel in the near future.