Steve Wozniak on Elon Musk: ‘I don’t believe anything he says’

ONE on the world’s biggest tech names has taken shots at Elon Musk and Tesla for overhyping self-driving technology and using “cheap” tactics to deflect responsibility for mistakes.

WHILE most people have nothing but praise for the work Elon Musk is doing to improve the world, a fellow tech pioneer doesn’t share the same enthusiasm for the Tesla founder.

Speaking at the Nordic Business Forum in Stockholm, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak delivered a brutal assessment of the electric-car maker, accusing the company of overhyping its self-driving technology and using “cheap” tactics to deflect responsibility for mistakes.

Wozniak, who owns two Model S Tesla cars, shared his own experiences with the vehicles.

“Our first Tesla slid off some ice late at night up at Lake Tahoe, and we ended up in a snow bank,” he said, according to Business Insider. “There was no damage, but it was clear we needed a four-wheel-drive Tesla.”

Wozniak said despite the initial mistakes, he was drawn back into the company’s vehicles after Musk promoted a summon function that would allow the Tesla to drive itself across itself the country.

“Oh, I had to have that,” he said. “And then … they got rid of their sensor company and put in new sensors — instead of one camera, eight cameras.”

The breakup with Israeli sensor-maker Mobileye forced delays, with Musk saying in 2016 that Tesla’s cross-country demonstration trip would happen by the end of 2017.

Steve Wozniak owns two Teslas, but isn’t the biggest fan.

Then last August, Musk said once again the feature would be delayed until early 2018.

The constant delays forced Wozniak to question the effectiveness of Tesla.

“I believed that stuff,” he said. “Now I don’t believe anything Elon Musk or Tesla says, but I still love the car.”

Wozniak then went on to compare Musk’s salesmanship with Apple’s other co-founder, Steve Jobs.

“I love that car, but the trouble is Elon Musk is portrayed in a lot of movies with a lack of faith and trust,” he said.

“What he says, can you really believe in him? Is he just a good salesman, like Jobs, and may not be there [in the end]?”

The 67-year-old said Teslas didn’t perform anywhere near as well as they should, with drivers having to always be on their toes at all times.

“When a Tesla runs in any condition on a highway that is a little unusual — a cone in the middle of a lane — you have to move over,” he said. “A dumb human or a smart human can easily do it, but the Tesla can’t,” he said.

Wozniak said Tesla is too quick to deflect responsibility when things don’t go to plan.

“All Tesla says is, ‘It’s beta, so we’re not responsible — you have to be in control’,” he said. “So that’s kind of a cheap way out of it. Everything I’ve read told me that every other car manufacturer in the world — Audi and BMW — are actually ahead of Tesla for self-driving cars.”