- Elon Musk was known to yell at NHTSA officials over Tesla safety concerns, Washington Post reported.
- Former officials said they developed a strategy to work with the CEO and incentivize recalls.
- Former Tesla workers have cited incidents where Musk has lost his temper in the past.
Former auto-safety officials told The Washington Post that some conversations with Tesla CEO Elon Musk over safety concerns and recalls turned into "yelling matches."
A former safety official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), who spoke anonymously, told the publication that Musk screamed and threatened to sue when the agency told Tesla it was launching an investigation into the carmaker in 2016. The investigation came after a Tesla that was on Autopilot crashed into a tractor-trailer and killed the driver.
Since, the NHTSA has launched dozens of investigations into Tesla crashes. The former officials said Tesla's high value, as well as Musk's status as the wealthiest man in the world, made it more difficult to incentivize the carmaker with fines. Multiple former safety officials at the NHTSA told The Post that the regulator has done anything from flatter to threaten Tesla and Musk in order to get the carmaker to comply with recalls.
Tesla issued multiple voluntary recalls in recent months. Most recently, Tesla recalled about 947 of its vehicles last week due to a lag in the electric cars' rearview image display.
An NHTSA spokesperson declined to comment when reached by Insider. Musk and a Tesla spokesperson also did not respond to a request for comment. Though, Musk told The Post to give his "regards to your puppetmaster," a reference to Jeff Bezos' ownership of the publication, and took the opportunity to criticize the news outlet's paywall in his statement on the issue.
The reports of Musk's outbursts from the safety officials echo stories from former executives at his companies. Last year, The Wall Street Journal's Tim Higgins wrote a book that shed light on alleged instances when the CEO exhibited a short fuse. In the book, "Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century," Higgins said Musk developed an atmosphere of fear at Tesla and SpaceX through his outbursts.
The book alleged that the CEO exploded at executives and hourly employees alike, including an incident in 2010 when Musk reportedly yelled at a Tesla meeting that was focused on the carmaker's upcoming public offering.
"I don't have time for this," Musk reportedly yelled as he stormed out of the meeting. "I've got to launch the f------ rocket!"
Musk has disputed some of the claims in the book and called them "false" on Twitter. Last year, Musk denied assertions he rage-fires employees, saying he gives "clear and frank" feedback.
Ultimately, safety officials expressed concern over the future of Tesla's Full Self-Driving software, according to The Post. Tesla's pursuit into the new frontier of autonomous driving means the NHTSA must work closer with Musk and the carmaker than ever before. The program, which promises autonomous driving, is currently in beta mode and still requires a licensed driver to monitor the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Tesla's Autopilot software — which enables a car to steer, accelerate, and brake automatically within its lane — has been involved in dozens of accidents and at least three fatalities since 2016.
Despite the crashes, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly said that Teslas are much safer than competitors. There are also plenty of videos online showing Tesla's safety features helping prevent accidents.
Read The Washington Post's full story on its website.