Jeffrey Brian "JB" Straubel is an American engineer, co-founder and former technical director of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. In July 2019, he is stepped down from his day-to-day role as an executive at the automaker, but he remained in the position of senior adviser.
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“I want to thank J.B. for his fundamental role in creating and building Tesla,” Musk said during the call. “If we hadn’t had lunch in 2003, Tesla wouldn’t exist, basically,” Musk added.
“I’m not disappearing, and I just wanted to make sure that people understand that this was not some, you know, lack of confidence in the company or the team or anything like that,” Straubel said, adding that he loves the company.
Straubel’s role at Tesla cannot be understated. The executive was responsible for some of the company’s most important technology, notably around batteries.
Recently J.B. Straubel attended to 2019 The 4th Enterprise Innovation Ecosystem Conference In China.
Photos credit Weibo： 爱智驾
As part of the conference visit, J.B. Straubel met with Tesla Owners Club China.
Chinese Tesla owners warmly welcome J.B. Straubel.
Photos credit Weibo： 爱智驾
Despite the fact that J.B. Straubel retired from Tesla, he is still involving to help Tesla mission going forward even in China. China is the future biggest market for Tesla.
China is already Tesla's second biggest market after the U.S., helped by government regulations that make gasoline-powered cars more expensive than electric vehicles.
The Shanghai facility is notable in that its cars will be produced for the Chinese market from the country's first fully foreign-owned car plant -- even as the U.S. and China are embroiled in a long-running trade dispute.
The facility may also end the near-monopoly supply of batteries hitherto provided by Panasonic, the Japanese manufacturer.
"With Model 3 priced on par with gasoline-powered mid-sized sedans, we believe China could become the biggest market for Model 3," Tesla said in the earnings release.
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
