The level of innovation is not determined by choosing an ambitious goal, but by actual progress towards it. AFAIK, Tesla and GM are working towards the same goa

The level of innovation is not determined by choosing an ambitious goal, but by actual progress towards it. AFAIK, Tesla and GM are working towards the same goal. The author, who has quite a bit of experience with both systems, and apparently likes both of them, writes "Tesla is vague about [deciding whether it can handle the situation], and often errs on the side of What the hell, let's give this a shot." (author's emphasis.) I would characterize GM's domain restriction as prudent rather than innovative, but that choice is not necessarily indicative of what has been achieved in R&D.