A view of Tesla’s U.S. car factory in Fremont, California, USA on March 18, 2020.Reuters/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
Elon Musk doesn’t want to hear complaints from customers testing the driver-assistance system Tesla plans to start charging $15,000 for in the coming weeks.
The chief executive called Tesla owners who posted a video to Twitter on Tuesday showing a new beta version of the system, marketed as fully autonomous, struggling to turn right and other basic tasks. Scolded. The customer writes that he spent more than $32,000 on multiple occasions to pay for the system.
“10.69 is a limited release for some reason,” Musk replied, referring to the latest version of the system that rolled out to some customers last week.
Musk announced last weekend that Tesla would raise the price of fully self-driving cars by $3,000, but this still requires active monitoring and the company’s vehicles cannot be self-driving. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla of misleading consumers about its technology, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether the automaker’s Autopilot system is flawed.
NHTSA wrote to Tesla last year about how the company was imposing non-disclosure agreements on fully self-driving beta testers. The automaker had been encouraging customers to share their experiences with the system, citing concerns that critics wanted the company to fail and would mischaracterize feedback posted on social media. asked to be selective.
In October, Musk confirmed that Tesla had dropped the NDA. A few months later, the company fired an employee days after posting on YouTube of his car crashing into a traffic pylon while using fully autonomous driving.
Musk has written in the past that he appreciates critical feedback, and in February he urged his Twitter followers to solicit negative reviews.
