Former General Motors Co GM and Ford Motor Co F automotive engineer Sandy Munro on Wednesday rebuked the U.S. transport regulator and the government for investigating Tesla Inc TSLA over its self-driving capabilities.
On Experience With Tesla FSD: The veteran engineer posted a rant on his popular YouTube channel to point out how he believes Tesla cars are safe, that it is a “true” U.S. company, and that such investigations as ones currently taking place will only slow it down.
“Quite frankly, I am tired of watching everybody throw rocks at Tesla. I am not a Tesla fanatic. Nobody buys me,” Munroe told viewers at the end of the rant.
Munro shared his experience of trying out Tesla’s full self-driving capabilities and how smoothly it worked with the “artificial intelligence” taking 60 degrees and 120 degrees turns, at slow speeds, on its own.
“There is no problem at all with the Tesla vehicles that I drove,” Munro noted.
As per Munro, these innovations could help save a lot of lives but instead it is under the line of fire from the U.S. agencies. “For some reason, there seems to be a movement to try and crush things down,” he said.
On Rivals: Munro, 72 — citing 2018 data when the U.S. fire department responded to 212,500 internal combustion engine vehicle fires and 560 people died in those fires — said there were “virtually no electric vehicle crashes” in that year.
“Let's get a brain here U.S.,” Munro said, adding that something dramatic must have happened in order to get these types of fires going.
Munro reminded his viewers that Tesla is a true U.S. company making cars within the county and we are “crushing the only source” of real American ingenuity. He wondered if other OEMs are ready to deliver similar feats.
“What are the other car companies out there that have got anything close to the self-driving systems, that will save countless lives. Who else is doing this? The Chinese,” he said.
It's worth noting Chinese electric vehicle startups like Nio Inc. NIO and Xpeng Inc. XPEV are counted among some of Tesla's biggest up-and-coming rivals.
As per Munro, the Chinese electric vehicle makers are creating systems that are equivalent or better than anything GM or Ford or other legacy OEMs are going to be making.
Pointing at the bigger legacy players, Munro said it is time the U.S. government stopped “coddling our hometown boys,” who want to continue profiteering from their big IC engines because they believe “2045 is the year when there will be some uptick in EV business.”
See Also: General Motors Recalls All Chevrolet Bolt EVs To Address Battery-Fire Risks, To Cost $1B
Why It Matters: U.S. auto safety regulators had earlier this month opened a formal safety probe on Palo Alto, California-based Tesla’s driver assistance system Autopilot after a series of crashes involving its models and emergency vehicles. On the same day, two U.S. senators pressed the Federal Trade Commission to probe Tesla for marketing its driving automation systems as fully self-driving.
Price Action: Tesla shares closed 0.38% higher at $711.20 on Wednesday.
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Photo: Courtesy of Tesla
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