One of the co-founders of Tesla Martin Eberhard expressed disappointment in connection with the change in the company's product strategy, which refused to develop a completely new budget model worth about 25 thousand dollars. Instead, the company under the management of Elon Musk decided to focus on the release of simplified versions of existing electric vehicles Model Y and Model 3, as well as the development of an autonomous taxi project called Cybercab.
Eberhard, who co-founded Tesla with Mark Tarpenning, emphasized that the mass market needs affordable electric vehicles, not ultra-experimental solutions like Cybertruck. In his comment, he compared the design of an electric pickup truck to a garbage can, noting its excessive aggressiveness and isolation from the everyday needs of consumers.
According to the engineer, Tesla's strategy is increasingly shifting towards technology demonstrations, to the detriment of the real needs of the global electric vehicle market. He also noted that the design of the latest Tesla models has become monotonous and devoid of novelty, despite the active introduction of new platforms and software. Eberhard expressed skepticism about the idea of fully autonomous taxis and questioned the realistic timing of their implementation.
Since its inception, Tesla has positioned itself as a company capable of transforming the automotive industry by offering eco-friendly and technological solutions. However, internal disagreements over strategic priorities reflect a broader debate in the industry — between innovative audacity and the need for stable mass production. Despite significant advances in AI and autopilot, the lack of a budget model limits Tesla's potential in emerging markets and among new categories of buyers.
The criticism of one of the company's first executives reflects growing concern among some of the community about the direction of the brand, which was originally created with the idea of democratizing electric transport.
