Although Elon Musk has made self-driving a top priority for Tesla, one of the carmaker’s original founders doesn’t agree with it.
Tesla co-founder Eberhard
Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard said in an interview, “In my opinion, we need to get out of the habit of thinking that all this self-driving stuff is associated with electric cars. They’re separate. I’d like to see people thinking about making cars that people can drive.”
Self-driving is bullshit
Eberhard was CEO of Tesla but was ousted by Musk in 2007. He said that while working at Tesla, developing self-driving software for electric cars was the least of his concerns.
“So, remember, all this nonsense about fully automated driving (FSD), autopilot — none of that existed when I was there,” he said, “We were We were still too busy trying to get the car running to think about that. That happened later. It required a much larger budget than we had.”
When Eberhard left Tesla in 2007, the company had not yet released its first car. Tesla was developing the Roadster sports car, a small sports car based on the Lotus Elise model. The Lotus Elise is a two-seat convertible that was first sold by the British Lotus Motor Company in 1996.
Eberhard said that while he appreciates “safety-oriented systems” such as assisted driving features, he is “not a big fan” of autonomous driving. He said Musk seems to have his heart set on self-driving cars and believes that is one of his biggest concerns about Tesla under Musk’s leadership.
Cars shouldn’t be like iPhones
For years, Musk has promised that Tesla would get fully self-driving cars on the road. Last year, the billionaire said Tesla’s self-driving system was the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money and is almost worthless.
Today, Tesla is known for its remote software updates. Musk has said that the company is “as much a software company as it is a hardware company. But Eberhard disagrees with that approach.
“I think it’s wrong to think of the car as a software platform, like an iPhone or something else. But it’s not the same,” Eberhard said stating, “I have an iPhone, and every time I get a software update, there are bugs in it. These bugs mean danger. For example, my news push app occasionally crashes. It’s no big deal because it’s just an annoyance on the iPhone. But this kind of bug can show up in car control software, for example, my brakes or steering wheel, and it can kill you.”
Currently, all Tesla models are equipped with Autopilot. tesla owners can also purchase the company’s FSD beta feature for $15,000 or through a $199 monthly subscription. The beta feature enables the vehicle to automatically change lanes, enter and exit the freeway, recognize stop signs and traffic lights, and stop. Both programs still require a licensed owner to monitor the system at all times. Tesla’s artificial intelligence system collects owner data to improve the system as drivers use it. As of last December, more than 285,000 people had purchased the feature.
Over the past few years, Tesla has come under increasing scrutiny from regulators over its Autopilot system and marketing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Autopilot and its potential connection to several accidents.
Eberhard and Musk have disagreed in the past. After Musk began referring to himself as the founder of Tesla and making negative comments about Eberhard, Eberhard filed a defamation lawsuit against Musk in 2009, which was settled that same year. Since then, Musk has been critical of Eberhard online.
Musk and Tesla have not yet commented.
