What can you say about a 14-year-old who, with his co-founders of 3-4 times their age, has created a prototype for an autonomous electric car? Saad Nasser loves to research simpler tech archetypes. He says that he was absorbed in books when he visited his father’s library.
He began learning Java at the age of five and finished his book on C++ two years later. He chose to leave formal education. Saad visited his mentor, Dr V Vinay, to solve engineering problems. It was there that he met Saurabh Chandra, an IIT Varanasi graduate. The three founded Ati Motors in Bangalore, an autonomous electric car startup that has drawn the attention of Anand Mahindra, Godrej, and other giants.
The market leader, Elon Musk, inspires Saad. Saurabh concurs: “We wouldn’t compare ourselves to Tesla, but Ati’s vehicle model includes full-stack just like Tesla.” Ati plans to export its cargo vehicle after initially focusing on B2B. There are fewer regulations in the industrial sector. Saurabh says that removing humans from the equation reduces the risk of death.
The Ati founders designed and built all the vehicle components from scratch. The prototype has two tires at the front of the chassis and one tire in the middle of the rear. Saad believes they will manufacture the vehicle by the end of 2019.
