Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says Elon Musk is essentially a con artist

We all know that special someone in our lives, someone we might’ve grown up with, someone who still stands out in our minds – someone who is an overrated con artist, a braggart and a deceiver.

You see them for who they are, all talk and no results. No one ever sets them straight. The results that they talk about are just an illusion — the product of manipulating others. They know how to get what they want from people, without ever serving anybody. They were once called spoiled brats; now they know how to con people out of their money and energy, so they can live however they want. Just by bragging and making people feel sympathetic toward their cause, they know how to make a big deal out of their self and absorb glory that they didn’t honorably achieve.

Is this the kind of guy Elon Musk is?

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak essentially believes Elon Musk is a con artist. “I don’t believe anything Elon Musk or Tesla says.” At a recent conference in Sweden, Wozniak revealed his deep mistrust toward the overhyped Tesla and why he isn’t jumping on Elon Musk’s bandwagon charade.

Wozniak once said that there is “way too much hype” around Tesla, a venture primarily funded by taxpayers. In fact, Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, were funded by an estimated $4.9 billion in government support (taxpayer-funded). Every taxpayer in the U.S. is essentially working for Musk, whose visions are lifted onto a pedestal and “entitled” to taxpayer support.

At the Q&A conference with Wozniak, listeners got the inside scoop on the faulty side of Tesla’s self-driving cars. Wozniak said he still loves the car, but recounted one incident at Lake Tahoe, where his Tesla skidded off an icy road and descended into a snow bank. Musk convinced Wozniak to cough up more money to upgrade to a newer model.

Wozniak also said Musk makes promises he can’t keep. Wozniak said he was conned into believing that the new Tesla would be fully-equipped to drive across the United States by the end of 2017. The Israeli company that develops sensors for Tesla broke ties with Musk, damaging all trust that Musk could deliver on his promises. “I’m sure the next car will come out and Elon’s promise will be that (this is the car that delivers),” said Wozniak, speaking to the audience in Sweden.

Wozniak enlightened the audience that Musk is all talk, offering no real results, citing Tesla’s poor state of technology that is far behind the self-driving technology currently used by car manufacturers Audi and BMW. Wozniak also commented on some of the more frightening aspects of Tesla’s self-driving technology.

“When a Tesla runs in any condition on a highway that is a little unusual  — a cone in the middle of a lane — you have to move over,” said Wozniak. “A dumb human or a smart human can easily do it, but the Tesla can’t. Man, you’ve got to be on your toes all the time with it.” Wozniak says he doesn’t normally drive his Tesla; rather, he prefers to drive his Chevy Bolt EV.

Wozniak said he is tired of Musk using “cheap” tactics to deflect responsibility for mistakes. Referring to Musk, Wozniak said, “What he says, can you really believe in him?”

See more coverage of Elon Musk at ElonMuskWatch.com.

Sources include:

MercuryNews.com

LATimes.com

BusinessInsider.com