The outspoken billionaire is currently promoting the Virgin Racing team’s efforts in the Formula E series, the all-electric FIA racing championship that follows the Formula One format.
“We have teams of people working on electric cars,” Branson told Bloomberg, responding to a question about Virgin’s broader ambitions in the segment. “So you never know–you may find Virgin competing with the Tesla in the car business as we do in the space business.”
Major automakers have traditionally dismissed the competitive threat from startup companies. Tesla Motors’ apparent success may have brought a change in thinking, potentially serving as inspiration for Apple’s rumored car project and Google’s autonomous-car ambitions.
“The likes of Elon Musk at Tesla have done a great job in raising awareness and adaptation of electric cars,” Branson wrote in a separate blog post. “In the decades to come, filling up a car with petrol will sound as backwards as the horse and cart is today.”
Branson has a reputation for regularly investing in new business ventures, though his recent hints fall short of a formal confirmation that Virgin-branded cars will be on the road in the near future.
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