How a 19th-Century Electrical Engineer Changed Modern Car Design

Now Nikola Tesla is a Pop Culture Icon

When you think of hot cars – the automobiles that set your pulse on fire and make your fingers twitch in anticipation of turning the key – you probably don’t think of electric models. Electric cars are usually a snooze-fest. At best, they’re cute rounded numbers that look like they were designed by Fisher-Price – with one notable exception. If you want an electric car that doesn’t look like a boring sedan or something driven by a toddler, then you’re going to love the 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year: the Tesla Model S.

Sure, it’s an electric, but it has the sex appeal and response of a sports car. The Model S is just as much about style and performance as it is about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a product of remarkable imagination and ingenuity – just like its manufacturer’s namesake.

Tesla Motors is a maker based in the Silicon Valley that focuses solely on designing, manufacturing and selling electric cars and electric vehicle powertrain components. The company came into the spotlight when it produced the Tesla Roadster, the first electric sports car. Since the release of the Roadster in 2006, the company has experienced further success with other vehicles, including the impressive Model S. Tesla Motors wasn’t born in a vacuum. The manufacturer was inspired and named after Nikola Tesla, a 19^th-century scientist. Tesla was a brilliant electrical engineer and inventor, whose alternating-current power transmission was used to design the Roadster.

While he was by no means a showman, Tesla’s inventions were pure spectacle, just like the Model S. His combination of imagination and genius has captured the hearts of not just modern car manufacturers but of Hollywood, too. In 2006, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization declared it the Year of Tesla. That year marked the 150^th anniversary of Tesla’s birth and also the unveiling of the Roadster in July.

In October 2006, The Prestige, a British-American thriller was released in theaters. The film saw immense success, thanks to a good script, acting and directing. Science nerds who weren’t familiar with the 1995 novel of the same name were in for a treat. At one point, there’s a visit with an accomplished scientist played by David Bowie. That scientist is Nikola Tesla. It should come as no surprise that a man who forever changed the field of electrical engineering would also make an excellent character on the big screen.

The Serbian-American inventor has continued to make posthumous appearances in pop culture. Today, you can find Tesla as a “character” in other films, books, video games, comics and television shows. Depictions of Tesla range from quiet inventor to mad scientist. His previous obscurity contrasts sharply with the popularity and impact of his work. The dissimilarity between the man and his inventions was what made him so compelling. These days, Tesla isn’t such an unknown name. Car buffs, science nerds and David Bowie fans alike are at least somewhat familiar with Nikola Tesla and his achievements. Having already made his mark on the film and automotive industries, it remains to be seen how Tesla’s work will further impact the world.

Source: AutoInsurance