Photo: Tesla
Some people think that Tesla is innovative because of Elon Musk and that he saved it from going bankrupt. If “Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century” is correct, it may have survived despite Musk. Credit Doug Field for saving the Model Y, for example. According to the book, Musk wanted it to have no steering wheel.
Musk already said the book is “both false and boring” after denying that he and Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, ever had any sort of conversation. Apple released a similar statement, even if a lot more polite. Sadly for both, some tweets made fun of their speech with photographic proof that they have already met – and probably talked.
Tim Higgins, the book author, already said that “this anecdote comes from Musk’s own account of the conversation.” As a journalist, he would have warned if his book was a romance and not an investigation. People who worked with the Wall Street Journal reporter vouched for how serious he is. If the story is there, he must have sources to confirm that.
That’s the same case with the Model Y story. According to the book, Musk pushed for the Model Y to have no steering wheel because it would be autonomous. That reinforces the idea that, while the company tells authorities that Autopilot and FSD are Level 2 driving assistant aids, Musk always presented them as autonomous tech.
The book states that it was Doug Field who prevented a disaster with that car. He told Tesla engineers to develop a steering wheel for the Model Y despite what Musk wanted. Field was tired of Musk intervening in the design process.
The executive resigned from Tesla in 2018, allegedly for clashed involving the Tesla Model 3. If the book is correct, he could have left after Musk discovered that the Model Y would have a steering wheel in the end. Changing the project would probably cost millions of dollars.
Musk recently admitted that autonomous driving was not as easy to achieve as he thought. Just like he apologized for the “alien dreadnought” and said that “humans are underrated.” If the Model Y were designed without a steering wheel, Tesla would not have sold a single one until now. Ironically, Tesla now faces a similar case of jumping the gun after centering all its future products around the 4680 cells and not getting it production-ready.
With that, the Model Y made in Austin and Grünheide will have to wait, just like the Cybertruck, the Roadster, and the Semi. The 4680 battery composes a structural battery pack that all these cars present. Without it, they cannot be produced. That might have been avoided if Field was still around. He is crucial to another story involving Tesla that we’ll soon tell you. Stay tuned.
https://t.co/PcUrDBHWpU pic.twitter.com/2hwpWh5Jrh
— Taylor Ogan (@TaylorOgan) July 31, 2021
Tim Higgins, the book author, already said that “this anecdote comes from Musk’s own account of the conversation.” As a journalist, he would have warned if his book was a romance and not an investigation. People who worked with the Wall Street Journal reporter vouched for how serious he is. If the story is there, he must have sources to confirm that.
That’s the same case with the Model Y story. According to the book, Musk pushed for the Model Y to have no steering wheel because it would be autonomous. That reinforces the idea that, while the company tells authorities that Autopilot and FSD are Level 2 driving assistant aids, Musk always presented them as autonomous tech.
The book states that it was Doug Field who prevented a disaster with that car. He told Tesla engineers to develop a steering wheel for the Model Y despite what Musk wanted. Field was tired of Musk intervening in the design process.
Musk was given plenty of opportunities to comment on this. He didn’t. This anecdote comes from Musk’s own account of the conversation, according to people who heard the retelling at the time. https://t.co/GRKZRBsaeR
— Tim Higgins (@timkhiggins) July 30, 2021
The executive resigned from Tesla in 2018, allegedly for clashed involving the Tesla Model 3. If the book is correct, he could have left after Musk discovered that the Model Y would have a steering wheel in the end. Changing the project would probably cost millions of dollars.
Musk recently admitted that autonomous driving was not as easy to achieve as he thought. Just like he apologized for the “alien dreadnought” and said that “humans are underrated.” If the Model Y were designed without a steering wheel, Tesla would not have sold a single one until now. Ironically, Tesla now faces a similar case of jumping the gun after centering all its future products around the 4680 cells and not getting it production-ready.
With that, the Model Y made in Austin and Grünheide will have to wait, just like the Cybertruck, the Roadster, and the Semi. The 4680 battery composes a structural battery pack that all these cars present. Without it, they cannot be produced. That might have been avoided if Field was still around. He is crucial to another story involving Tesla that we’ll soon tell you. Stay tuned.
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