Indian Elon Musk! And He's Just 16! What do you make of a 14-year-old who has made the prototype of an autonomous electric vehicle alongside his co-founders who are 3-4 times his age?
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What do you make of a 14-year-old who has made the prototype of an autonomous electric vehicle alongside his co-founders who are 3-4 times his age? Well, Saad Nasser's favorite pastime is to research on less- intricate tech archetypes. "I visited my father's library once and instantly got engrossed in reading books," he says.
At 5, he was learning Java programming and two years hence, he had finished a book on C++. He opted to drop out of formal education system. He bagged the Intel IRIS Fair award in 2014.Saad often visited Dr V Vinay, his mentor to solve complex engineering problems where he crossed paths with Saurabh Chandra, an IIT Varanasi graduate and entrepreneur. The trio laid the foundation of Ati Motors, an autonomous electric vehicle startup in Bangalore, which has attracted the interest of giants like Anand Mahindra and Godrej.
Saad draws inspiration from market leader, Elon Musk. "We would not compare ourselves to Tesla but Ati's vehicle model involves full-stack, just like Tesla," Saurabh agrees. After limiting themselves to B2B space, Ati has plans to export the cargo vehicle. "There are lesser regulations in the industrial space. Moreover, removing humans from equation mitigates any risk of life," says Saurabh.
Ati founders built the components of vehicle indigenously from scratch. The prototype is uncanny with two tires in the front and a single tire in the rear centre of the chassis length. Saad feels they will be manufacturing the vehicle towards the later end of 2019.
