Virgin might be preparing to take on the likes of Tesla, with CEO Richard Branson hinting in an interview that Virgin has been working on electric car technology.
The Virgin mega-brand is already in media, air travel, wireless and even space travel.
"We have teams of people working on electric cars," Branson said. "So you never know - you may find Virgin competing with Tesla in the car business as we do in the space business. We will see what happens," said Branson in an interview.
It's important to note that there is no reason to assume that we will see a real product from Virgin in the electric car space within the next few years. The company is simply toying with the idea.
It is safe to assume, however, that Branson is not a fan of the gas-guzzling cars that we currently use. Branson has been seen driving around a Saab 9-5 BioPower and has said in an interview that he hopes "10 years from now the smell of exhausts from cars will be a thing of the past as much as the smell of cigarettes in restaurants."
It could be argued Virgin is a good company to take on the likes of Tesla. Virgin has been a player in Formula One for a while now and has a lot of engineering power from projects like Virgin Galactic, which is designed to commercialize trips into space. Of course, Branson has the money to back up his claims with results.
The electric car space has been heating up lately. With Tesla having released a software update to its Model S, many are looking toward a feasible future of electric cars. The update includes software that will not only give drivers more warnings when they are leaving the range of a charging station, but will actually route drivers to be able to take advantage of charging stations as they go.
Apple has reportedly also been toying with the idea of entering the electric car space. Recent rumors suggest that the company has been hiring employees from companies like Tesla in order to work on a product of its own. Despite this, it will likely be at least a few years before we see any kind of electric car from Apple, if it is indeed working on an Apple Car.
Last but not least, Google has been working on an electric car that is self-driving. It is highly likely that as we head into an era of electric cars, we will also head into an era of self-driving cars.
