Electric Motorcycle Startup Mission Motors Ceases Operations After Losing Talent to Apple<img src="
" alt="Mission-Motors-EM" width="250" height="188" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-469465" />Electric motorcycle startup
Mission Motors has ceased operations after losing some of its key talent to competitors such as Apple, and failing to develop a viable business model, according to
Reuters.
"Mission had a great group of engineers, specifically electric drive expertise," [
former CEO Derek] Kaufman said. "Apple knew that - they wanted it, and they went and got it."The report claims about six engineers from the San Francisco-based startup were recruited by Apple since last autumn, and the company's assets are now controlled by its largest investor Infield Capital.
Mission Motorcycles, a related company created to sell the electric motorcycles, is reportedly in the process of filing for bankruptcy.
Apple never attempted to acquire Mission Motors outright, according to Kaufman, instead drawing from its pool of specialized engineers working on electric drive systems and battery algorithms for charging and cooling.
Mission Motors was founded in 2007 with ambitions to create a world-class electric motorcycle, and it launched an early prototype in 2013 to positive reviews. The company was reportedly often cash strapped, however, and some investors backed out as engineers left for competitors.
Mission Motors never released an electric motorcycle for sale to consumers.
Apple has been rumored to be
working on an electric vehicle, codenamed "Project Titan," for several months, with its secretive automotive team reportedly including former employees from
Tesla, Ford, GM,
A123 Systems,
Samsung and other competitors. Earlier this year, it
reached a settlement with A123 in a poaching lawsuit.
Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories •
Apple Store Once Called 'World's Biggest' Opens in China on October 24 •
Sprint Will Start Throttling Customers That Use More Than 23 GB a Month •
How to Customize Default Replies on Apple Watch •
MacRumors Giveaway: Win a 128GB Angelbird SSD2go Pocket from MEGAMAC •
Google Removes 'OK Google' Search Activation in Latest Chrome Update •
iPhone 6s Launches in India and 6 Other Countries, Coming to Thailand October 30 •
Review: 'Anchor' Offers Simple Apple Watch Charging, but With Drawbacks •
Apple Expands Lower App Store Pricing Tiers to Australia<br clear='all'/>
<a href="
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/>[/url]
<a href="
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/>[/url]
<a href="
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://da.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/a2.img" border="0"/>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/ach.img" border="0"/>[/url]<img width="1" height="1" src="
http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/a2t.img" border="0"/><img width="1" height="1" src="
http://pi2.feedsportal.com/r/241226215622/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/4aca94e1/sc/28/a2t2.img" border="0"/><img width='1' height='1' src='
' border='0'/><div class="feedflare">
<img src="[url]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MacRumors-Front?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MacRumors-Front?d=6W8y8wAjSf4" border="0"></img>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MacRumors-Front?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img>[/url]
</div><img src="
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MacRumors-Front/~4/Th2rCD99B1Y" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
Source:
Electric Motorcycle Startup Mission Motors Ceases Operations After Losing Talent to Apple
