Tesla co-founder criticised Musk for rejecting $25,000 electric car and 'rubbish' Cybertruck design
One of Tesla's actual founders, Martin Eberhard, has criticised Elon Musk for his decision to cancel the $25,000 affordable electric car project, calling it a rejection of the company's original mission. Instead, he said, Tesla went down the wrong path by releasing a pickup truck that "looks like a bin."
Here's What We Know
It is a common belief that Tesla was founded by Musk personally, as he was the public face of the brand from the beginning. However, Musk was formally recognised as a co-founder only by court order - along with four other people: Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning, Ian Wright and JB Straubel. In fact, Eberhard and Tarpenning were the actual founders who launched Tesla before Musk came on board as an investor and chairman in 2004.
There was conflict between Eberhard and Musk when difficulties arose in launching the original Tesla Roadster. As a result, Musk, as the largest shareholder, was able to get Eberhard to leave, after which they sued each other. The court settlement allowed Musk to officially be called co-founder.
In a rare interview, Eberhard revealed that Tesla's original strategy included launching the Model 3 and Y models, but then planned to move further down the price segment - towards affordable mass-market cars.
"I was really disappointed that Tesla cancelled its budget model programme. That's what the world is missing right now - not a truck that looks like a dumpster," Eberhard said.
When asked about a self-driving Robotaxi model, presumably called Cybercab, Eberhard expressed scepticism. He reminded that many autonomous systems are still too crude and unsafe, and society too easily turns a blind eye.
He also criticised the current design of Tesla cars, calling it "devoid of inspiration".
Source: Electrek
