A casual glance at the item exhibited by Tesla Industries (Stand No. 723) could lead to the conclusion that it is a single-product company. That may be true in the broadest sense because its product catalog mostly lists ground power units that are similar in appearance, but all are notable for being one-man portable.

That is a clue to the growing popularity of Tesla’s ground power units among the business aviation fraternity because they are easy to handle, feature nonhazardous, dry-cell technology and, if required, can be easily stored on an aircraft. The company was formed in 1992 but takes its name from a Croatian inventor said to have single-handedly changed the view of the power industry.

Tesla remains committed to providing top-quality power products that break all the rules. To that end it employs the latest technologies in the manufacturing process, using state-of-the-art computer numerical control (CNC) lasers, mills and lathes that interface with cutting-edge computer-aided design (CAD) software. Moreover, many of its electrical components are manufactured in house rather than being outsourced.

Widely used by airborne military, medevac and law enforcement units, the Tesla GPUs can be easily maneuvered by one person by hand without the need of a vehicle. The Model TI4200 GPU-24 displayed on the stand provides 1500 peak starting amps and the system back-charges from the started aircraft generator. Others in the series have been designed with business aircraft in mind, which because of the non-spillable dry cell technology can be safely stowed on board an aircraft, so that power can always be provided wherever it goes.