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Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

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Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they are involved in other car companies and they would lose something if Tesla beats the car companies they are involved with. For instance if you are a supplier and have super good relationships with Ford then you don't want Tesla to beat Ford. Who knows if you can have a similarly profitable and trustable relationship at Tesla.

I agree it seems likely that other car companies are against Tesla. But why are geeks against Tesla? Why is there so much hate for them on Hacker News on Twitter, from tech people working for big tech companies? That's my question.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more: the BMW CEO quit basically for being completely unable to deliver on the EV roadmap and squandering the huge advantage BMW had in the field.

I don't think BMW ever had any kind of advantage in this field, never mind huge.

The i3 is a car designed to be a pure electric car (not counting the optional range extender, which did cost precious space). It came to market in 2013. So BMW clearly was only second to Tesla in bringing a pure electric car to the market. The i3 did a few doubious trade-offs but overall is a nice electric car.

In that sense, BMW was way ahead of most other car companies. If they had continued to bring out other models based on their tech, they would have a sizable offering of electric cars. But unfortunately, they mostly stopped development and had the i3 dev team leaving.

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#63
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's because they do damage their workers' rights and their fans are so insufferable: The denial that they have quality issues, the repeated lies ("we are going to build a factory in weeks", while everyone knows that it will take years), the massive overvaluation. It's either you are on team Tesla and celebrating every of Elon's brainfarts or you are "big oil" that is trying to destroy them: Just look what hap…

To be honest it really disturbs why people hate Tesla so much. Citing your reason for them being over-optimistic or over-promising, how else do people change the world? I don't mean this message as an attack but something to think about. These guys are working on something No one has EVER done in the history of mankind and we require them to stick to timetables and if they don't the punishment is we wish them failure…

All that is great. I just wish they could do it without lying through their teeth. Elon is still claiming with a straight face that fully autonomous, L5 Teslas are coming next year. This is a lie. Everyone knows it is a lie. Why is this necessary? Couldn't he change the world without engaging in that sort of behavior?

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#64
post #14

> His departure is the latest in a long string of high-profile executives to leave Tesla in the past year, most recently Steve McManus, a vice president in charge of engineering for car interiors and exteriors at Tesla, who joined Apple. Two other former Tesla executives, Michael Schwekutsch, and chief engineer Doug Field, have also left to join Apple. Not to understate the significance of Tesla losing Straubel, but…

BMW's CEO stepped down 2 weeks ago. Ford has had 4 CEOs in the last four years... not a sound from the media. The janitor at Tesla quits and its a top story about a company in turmoil.

BMW does not lose half a billion in a quarter and sells it as a huge success.

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#65
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest it really disturbs why people hate Tesla so much. Citing your reason for them being over-optimistic or over-promising, how else do people change the world? I don't mean this message as an attack but something to think about. These guys are working on something No one has EVER done in the history of mankind and we require them to stick to timetables and if they don't the punishment is we wish them failure…

All that is great. I just wish they could do it without lying through their teeth. Elon is still claiming with a straight face that fully autonomous, L5 Teslas are coming next year. This is a lie. Everyone knows it is a lie. Why is this necessary? Couldn't he change the world without engaging in that sort of behavior?

Facebook’s active user growth is also a stark and plain lie; if Tesla succeeds, the world will improve. If Facebook succeeds, the world gets a lot worse.

It’s misplaced ire.

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#66
post #14

> His departure is the latest in a long string of high-profile executives to leave Tesla in the past year, most recently Steve McManus, a vice president in charge of engineering for car interiors and exteriors at Tesla, who joined Apple. Two other former Tesla executives, Michael Schwekutsch, and chief engineer Doug Field, have also left to join Apple. Not to understate the significance of Tesla losing Straubel, but…

BMW's CEO stepped down 2 weeks ago. Ford has had 4 CEOs in the last four years... not a sound from the media. The janitor at Tesla quits and its a top story about a company in turmoil.

Actually BMW's CEO stepping down was very widely reported. The reason it's not news in the same way as the Tesla news is because it was very public and obvious why he was stepping down - he had basically failed. The reason Tesla's news is more interesting, is because its unexplained. Which means its probably a leading indicator of some news to come. Either dozens of Tesla execs have all suddenly had their own 'A christmas carole' moment and decided to spend more time with their families, or there's something more at play.

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I dislike Tesla because I think Autopilot causes preventable deaths.

Humans driving cars cause preventable deaths.

I think it's like saying "I don't like surgery, because mistakes during surgeries cause preventable deaths"

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#68
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All that is great. I just wish they could do it without lying through their teeth. Elon is still claiming with a straight face that fully autonomous, L5 Teslas are coming next year. This is a lie. Everyone knows it is a lie. Why is this necessary? Couldn't he change the world without engaging in that sort of behavior?

Facebook’s active user growth is also a stark and plain lie; if Tesla succeeds, the world will improve. If Facebook succeeds, the world gets a lot worse. It’s misplaced ire.

> if Tesla succeeds, the world will improve

It doesn't matter if Tesla succeeds or fails. All car companies now have to meet fleet emissions targets and the way they're going to do it is by building electric cars, either battery electric or fuel cell or both.

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#69

Why do some many people hate Tesla and want them to fail? Do they also want SpaceX to fail? Elon can be an asshat sometimes, and he oversells and is over-optimistic. But even if the short sellers are right and Tesla will go bankrupt (which, btw, does not equal failure in many ways), why are so many people excited about that? Most tech giants of recent times have done things I would consider to have made the world a m…

SpaceX isn't a big name in consumer tech the same way Tesla or those tech giants you're thinking of are. It's less known and even less within the public conscious. Less seen so less talked about.

People on a deep subconscious level understand that they're not in an environment where they belong. They've been robbed of their humanity and turned in to half cog half husk of a person. They've don't and can't live an authentic life but rather a simulation. They're a shark in a tank. They understand that the scientist, the academic, and above all the technologist is responsible for this.

Large well known technology companies are therefore a good outlet of this disapproval. They're viewed as the enemy and the missteps they make that we consciously understand as negatives are amplified by our subconscious understanding that they're existentially damaging to us at their very core. People do hate the tech giants. Tesla though is largely unique in that it doesn't sell to the masses, at least not yet, so criticism aimed at it feels less hypocritical than that of a company whose products and services we use.

That's why SpaceX doesn't get criticised pretty much at all, normal tech giants get criticised a bit, and Tesla gets dogpiled.

Re: Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

#70

Why do some many people hate Tesla and want them to fail? Do they also want SpaceX to fail? Elon can be an asshat sometimes, and he oversells and is over-optimistic. But even if the short sellers are right and Tesla will go bankrupt (which, btw, does not equal failure in many ways), why are so many people excited about that? Most tech giants of recent times have done things I would consider to have made the world a m…

For me it's because they do damage their workers' rights and their fans are so insufferable: The denial that they have quality issues, the repeated lies ("we are going to build a factory in weeks", while everyone knows that it will take years), the massive overvaluation. It's either you are on team Tesla and celebrating every of Elon's brainfarts or you are "big oil" that is trying to destroy them: Just look what hap…

>"we are going to build a factory in weeks"

Where did you read that? What is your source?

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