The DC establishment’s falling out of love with Elon Musk continues.
As I’ve pointed out before, Washington, D.C. has fallen out of love with Tesla, once its golden child, thanks to behavior it simply cannot tolerate from CEO Elon Musk. Adding to the recent dogpiling on the American automaker is Ralph Nader, a man who rose to prominence by sounding the alarm about the Chevy Corvair.
Watch a Porsche blow away Tesla’s record here.
Some call Nader an opportunist. That’s a cynical take, but it’s understandable why. After all, the man nuked from existence a car he unclaimed was “unsafe at any speed.” That statement was categorically false and the Corvair has since been vindicated. Still, in many people’s minds, the Nader smear job sticks readily.
This time around, Nader has his 88-year-old sights on Tesla, again. The man has attacked Musk’s car company, wanting to add it’s visage to the Corvair’s head mounted in his trophy room before his time is up. The man released an official statement about Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology, calling it “one of the most dangerous and irresponsible actions by a car company in decades.”
Considering how Nader has made a career out of pearl clutching and overblowing safety concerns, you might be wise to take his assertions about Full Self-Driving with a grain of salt. Full disclosure: I haven’t used the technology, but I have used Autopilot and found it to operate far better than I had feared. I also learned when you switch on the system, the vehicle makes it clear you as the driver need to stay alert, be aware of your surroundings, plus keep your hands on the steering wheel to take over all driving duties at any moment. And I’ve observed the media mischaracterize this consistently.
I’m no Tesla fanboy, having leveled my fair share of criticism of the company and its products, but on this I disagree with critics. In fact, these attacks smack of desperation to bring Musk down since he won’t heel like a good boy. After all, NHTSA has been investigating Full Self-Driving as media outlets trumpet a failed “safety test” performed by activist organization The Dawn Project (which lists Full Self-Driving as “the first danger (it is) tackling.”
Nader’s statement is loaded with emotional bids and manipulation as he talks about “streets where children walk to school.” Why doesn’t he deploy the same hand-wringing about drunk driving or even better, increasing distracted driving fueled in part by vehicle touchscreens? It’s not difficult to see why that might be.
See Nader’s full statement for yourself here.
