Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla nabs more Apple staff, Musk says charging capacity 'top priority'

Chris Lattner and Matt Casebolt have left Apple to join Tesla. While Tesla announced Lattner will become its Vice President of Autopilot Software, Casebolt joins as the company's Senior Director of Engineering, Closures & Mechanisms. At Apple, Casebolt was most recently a design director for the Mac line, and was responsible for the 2016 MacBook Pro with its lauded Touch Bar. Other Apple alumni at Tesla include Senior Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Doug Field and Senior Director of Reliability and Test David Erhart. Read more at AppleWorld.Today.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that increasing the capacity at its Superchargers is the company's "top priority." While Tesla struggles to keep up with the number of owners using some of its public chargers, drivers lament waiting for stalls to open up, especially at older, smaller locations. "Increasing capacity at existing Supercharger locations now has top priority," Musk tweets. "Some are overflowing while a nearby one is empty." Tesla also plans to launch a feature that directs drivers to open Superchargers when nearby stalls are full. Read more at Teslarati.

King County Metro Transit in Washington will purchase 120 all-electric buses by 2020. King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the plan, which includes purchasing 73 Proterra EV buses for $55 million, with the first 20 going into service this year and in 2019. The agency will also spend millions on chargers to support those buses. "From our electric trolley bus fleet to building the nation's largest diesel-hybrid bus fleet, King County has long been an innovator in clean vehicle technology," says Constantine. "Now, we're dramatically expanding our zero-emission electric buses and working with the industry to innovate and offer next generation vehicles that move people quietly and cleanly while helping meet our climate goals." Read more at Green Car Congress, or from King County.