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You’re right that Tesla is in a different place, it’s why I didn’t mention them. I wonder if it’s to do with strong leadership from people like Gwynne Shotwell

You’re right that Tesla is in a different place, it’s why I didn’t mention them. I wonder if it’s to do with strong leadership from people like Gwynne Shotwell at SpaceX (who seems amazing from everything I’ve seen) and perhaps a lack of that at Tesla allowing more muskiness to get through. Tesla’s safety standards do seem to be high in tests, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is primarily because safety tests for cars are a well understood part of car marketing, rather than because Musk fundamentally believes Tesla should make the safest cars.

pwthornton 3y ago
Musk certainly likes to talk about how safe Teslas are, so it's at least a marketing point. But he also drives Teslas himself, so he has a vested interest in them being safe. If you are the CEO of GM, you may exclusively drive Catalliacs and not care deeply about Chevy safety (beyond what the market demands, the market seems to demand more of safety from certain brands and segments than others). Tesla's are also all unibodies, which are safer than body-on-frame. Body-on-frame is mostly used in legacy trucks and SUVs. The Big 3 sell a lot of body-on-frame trucks and SUVs because it is older, higher margin tech. You also need to do a lot of extra work to get to the same level of safety as a unibody. Beyond that, EVs in general are safer because they have such a low center of gravity. The risk of a rollover in a Tesla is low.
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  >But he also drives Teslas himself, so he has a vested interest in them being safe You say this in the comment section of an article about the death of a CEO in his own craft because he ignored safety warnings. "Hoist by his own petard" isn't even a new saying.
  - EricE 3y ago
    When Musk starts ranting about not hiring 50 year old white guys but instead hiring younger people to encourage innovation, I'll be concerned about his logical reasoning capabilities. Thankfully he hasn't gone anywhere near that kind of batshit crazy rhetoric and photos of Tesla and SpaceX employees show a wide spread of folks.
  - pwthornton 3y ago
    It's not uncommon for rich guys to do things that are dangerous for others. They usually don't do dangerous things to themselves. In that sense, Rush was a true believer in his design.

pwthornton 3y ago

Musk certainly likes to talk about how safe Teslas are, so it's at least a marketing point. But he also drives Teslas himself, so he has a vested interest in them being safe. If you are the CEO of GM, you may exclusively drive Catalliacs and not care deeply about Chevy safety (beyond what the market demands, the market seems to demand more of safety from certain brands and segments than others). Tesla's are also all unibodies, which are safer than body-on-frame. Body-on-frame is mostly used in legacy trucks and SUVs. The Big 3 sell a lot of body-on-frame trucks and SUVs because it is older, higher margin tech. You also need to do a lot of extra work to get to the same level of safety as a unibody. Beyond that, EVs in general are safer because they have such a low center of gravity. The risk of a rollover in a Tesla is low.

mrguyorama 3y ago
>But he also drives Teslas himself, so he has a vested interest in them being safe You say this in the comment section of an article about the death of a CEO in his own craft because he ignored safety warnings. "Hoist by his own petard" isn't even a new saying.
- EricE 3y ago
  When Musk starts ranting about not hiring 50 year old white guys but instead hiring younger people to encourage innovation, I'll be concerned about his logical reasoning capabilities. Thankfully he hasn't gone anywhere near that kind of batshit crazy rhetoric and photos of Tesla and SpaceX employees show a wide spread of folks.
- pwthornton 3y ago
  It's not uncommon for rich guys to do things that are dangerous for others. They usually don't do dangerous things to themselves. In that sense, Rush was a true believer in his design.