Mad Musk: Tesla CEO angrily headbutted car after safety sensor paused assembly line
by Rob Beschizza from on (#3XWTX)
During a tour this spring at Tesla Inc.'s electric-car factory in Fremont, Calif., Elon Musk asked why the assembly line had stopped. Managers said automatic safety sensors halted the line whenever people got in the way.Mr. Musk became angry, according to people familiar with what happened. His high-profile gamble on mass-producing electric cars had lagged behind since production began, and here was one more frustration. The billionaire entrepreneur began head-butting the front end of a car on the assembly line."I don't see how this could hurt me," he said of vehicles on the slow-speed line. "I want the cars to just keep moving."When a senior engineering manager involved with the system explained that it was a safety measure, Mr. Musk told him, "Get out!" Tesla said the manager was fired for other reasons.