Comedian and car enthusiast, Jay Leno, spoke with CNBC and has praised Tesla’s Elon Musk again.
Musk is a visionary because he is able to “own the whole deal”, with Leno comparing the Tesla CEO to the likes of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.
“Can you imagine any of the major automobile manufacturers saying ‘Let’s call this high performance feature ‘Plaid’ like they did in ‘Spaceballs’ as a joke?‘” said Leno, referring to Tesla’s fastest car, the Model S Plaid.
“You’d be fired or thrown out of the office. But when you own the company? Well, my car says ‘Plaid’ on the back of it,” added Leno.
Leno said Tesla stands out from the competition because of Musk and his ability to help steer design, giving the example of the new yoke steering wheel on the company’s new Model S and Model X vehicles.
“When you own the company, you can do whatever you want,” said Leno. “Some people love it and some people hate it, but that’s why all other cars look alike. Because everything else has to be designed by committee.”
Leno has previously praised Musk for his ability to build out a charging network for Tesla, unlike other automakers. He also has previously met with Musk when checking out the first 2008 Roadster.
The comedian also tried to break the 1/4 mile record in Tesla’s new Model S Plaid. The full episode will air on Jay Leno’s Garage in November.
Leno has made it clear in the past he fully supports Tesla, as it is an American company, making cars in the United States. He doesn’t understand why some people won’t support Tesla.
You can see other clips of Leno testing out Tesla vehicles below:
