An essay recently published by Business Insider reveals the frustrations of distinguished entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa with his “self-driving” Tesla. Despite calling himself a “Tesla Fanboy”, Vivek is voicing his disappointment with Tesla’s “full self-driving” claims, even asserting that he has “been duped” by Tesla.
The essay titled, “I was a Tesla fan but I feel like I’ve been duped by Elon Musk’s self-driving claims. I’ll never buy another Tesla again,” reveals how Wadhwa once considered himself a friend of Elon Musk and was very enthusiastic about the technology that was being developed at Tesla. Wadhwa was even one of the first people to receive a Tesla Model S after being amazed by the 2016 video of the car’s “Enhanced Autopilot” feature.
However, Wadwha’s feelings toward Tesla have taken a much different turn after getting hands on experience with the popular electric vehicle. Wadhwa wrote in the essay:
I was also one the first to get the Tesla Model S. When I saw this video of Enhanced Autopilot in 2016, I was told I’d need to upgrade to get Full Self-Driving. So I literally bought a new car. I sold my old one and I bought a new one. I wrote about that as well.
I started having doubts when my car first crashed into my garage while using Summon mode.
Then once while I was interviewed by “PBS News Hour” while driving, the car almost crashed on Autopilot when I was on El Camino Real. If I hadn’t slammed on the brakes, that might have been the first filmed Autopilot crash. It really shook me up.
Since then Wadhwa says he uses the autopilot less due to safety concerns. He only uses it cautiously on straight roads, electing to never engage the autopilot on windy roads. The entrepreneur then goes on to explain how he feels like he’s been “duped”:
This self-driving software feels dangerous. I don’t think cameras are enough. Elon made a bad decision to discontinue the use of radar in his cars, and now it feels like the car is partially blind and doesn’t have enough data now to be able to see what’s going on.
Elon doesn’t want to admit it. He just keeps saying “any day now, any day now,” but he’s been promising autonomous driving for years. I don’t think FSD will ever be what he’s said it would be.
I’m supposed to have FSD. I bought it, but he’s not updating the early versions of the cars. Tesla won’t upgrade my car — they just ignore me.
The first generation of people who jumped on board with FSD have been completely ignored. I feel like I’ve been duped. I want my money back. The current price for FSD is $15,000. They could pay me $15,000 and I’d stop complaining. I would join a class-action lawsuit in a heartbeat, without a second thought.
Wadhwa explains that he has owned three Teslas and has loved them all. He is not necessarily disappointed in the quality of the car, but the failed promise that he would have full self-driving capabilities. Therefore, Wadhwa claims he will never buy another Tesla.
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