Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has been a big fan of Tesla for many years and owns two Model S Sedans. Just last year he said that the firm was in the best direction for developing autonomous technology. Apparently, that is no longer the case. He is no longer a blind supporter and has doubts about the future of the company.
Elon Musk is known for his bold claims but Steve Wozniak has had enough of his claims and does not believe in them anymore. Musk claimed that he would build a car that could drive itself across the US by the end of 2016 and Wozniak believed him but there is no car so far that can make a cross-country road trip on its own.
“I believed that stuff,” Wozniak said at a conference in Sweden last week. “Now, I don’t believe anything Elon Musk or Tesla says. But I still love the car,” Musk repeated the same that a car would be able to drive itself from LA to New York by the end of 2017 but then later said that a cross-country test won’t be happening for some time.
Wozniak said at the conference that he believes Tesla may be overhyping the self-driving technology and is using cheap tactics to lessen responsibility for the mistakes. Wozniak recounted a story about his very first Tesla which skidded off an icy road in Lake Tahoe and into a snow bank. The car was not damaged but Wozniak felt the need to upgrade to a newer model.
Wozniak said that despite the advancements in the self-driving technology, Tesla is still far away from full autonomy. He said that the drivers have to be fully alert when the Tesla is navigating through unusual conditions. “Man, you’ve got to be on your toes all the time with it. When a Tesla does make mistakes, the company always reverts to its typical defence: That the Tesla is in ‘beta’ mode and that the company isn’t responsible. That’s kind of a cheap way out of it”
Wozniak even went as far as comparing Elon Musk to Steve Jobs but not in a good way. “I love that car, but the trouble is Elon Musk is portrayed in a lot of movies with a lack of faith and trust. Is [Musk] just a good salesman, like Jobs, and may not be there [in the end]?”
This is not the first time Wozniak said that Tesla was overhyped. Last year at a conference in Las Vegas he said, “And if [Tesla] says something is going to happen, don’t quite count on it.” According to Wozniak, manufacturers like Audi and BMW may be far ahead of Tesla in terms of advances in self-driving technology.
Wozniak prefers to drive his Chevy Bolt rather than Tesla for longer trips. However, this change came all of a sudden and just a few months ago, he was one the biggest supporters of Elon Musk and Tesla. No matter what Steve Wozniak has to say you cannot take away the achievements of Elon Musk and Tesla. Do you agree with Apple’s co-founder or are you still sticking with the billionaire genius?
