Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been chosen ‘Person of the Year’ again, this time from The Financial Times.
Musk gave an interview with The Financial Times regarding Tesla and more.
“For a long time, the rest of the auto industry was basically calling Tesla and me fools and frauds,” Musk told the Financial Times. “They were saying electric cars wouldn’t work, you can’t achieve the range and performance. And even if you did that, nobody would buy them.”
Musk said it was only until Tesla started taking away market share from regular automakers did the latter react, with now most pledging billions to pursue electric vehicles.
Regarding Tesla’s Full Self-Driving and safety, and whether the company has misled customers, Musk responded, “I haven’t”, adding, “read what it says when you order a Tesla. Read what it says when you turn it on. It’s very, very clear.”
Thank you!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2021
“I don’t think there’s a CEO on this planet that cares more about safety than me,” added Musk, pointing to Telsa’s high safety ratings and NASA trusting SpaceX with astronauts.
“I’m just trying to get people to Mars, and enable freedom of information with Starlink, accelerate sustainable technology with Tesla, free people from the drudgery of driving,” said Musk. “It’s certainly possible that the road to hell to some degree is paved with good intentions — but the road to hell is mostly paved with bad intentions.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO works long hours. He says he spends 7 days per week working about 80-90 hours between both companies.
On the topic of Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos and ribbing the latter, Musk says, “In some ways, I’m trying to goad him into spending more time at Blue Origin so they make more progress. As a friend of mine says, he should spend more time at Blue Origin and less time in the hot tub.”
Musk also mentioned China, saying people are “somewhat oblivious” to how much progress is being made in the country, specifically car companies, comparing the upcoming wave to Japanese imports from the 1980s and 1990s.
He said the number of hard-working and smart people in China “is a wonder to behold”, calling it “both amazing and slightly scary,” as the country is able to get things done.
Earlier this week, Musk was chosen ‘Person of the Year’ by TIME magazine.
