YASA founder and engineer Tim Woolmer is leading the world of luxury vehicles to a net-zero future. After graduating from Oxford University, Woolmer founded YASA in 2008 and quickly began selling a radical new design of electric motor to luxury car manufacturers such as Ferrari and McLaren. Woolmer’s pioneering engine is only one-third the weight of typical electric motors but possesses over 3x greater power densities than those of Tesla and other brands.
In 2021, Mercedes-Benz acquired YASA as the heart of the brand’s initiative to go fully electric by 2030. Woolmer’s electric engine now powers Mercedes new Vision One-Eleven, a luxury sports car unveiled in January of 2023 and slated to move shortly into series production. In 2022, Woolmer received the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2022 Colin Campbell Award, and this past year, he was awarded Automotive News Europe’s 2023 Rising Star Award.
Hailed by Forbes Germany as “The Savior of Mercedes,” Woolmer is committed to achieving net-zero mobility and told the magazine that he hopes his work will spur a new generation of efficient, electric vehicles globally.
