Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says Tesla is biggest disruptor

Many credit Steve Wozniak, not Steve Jobs, as being the unsung hero at Apple. Apple was the first company to be valued at over $700 Billion so any endorsement by one of its iconic founders is certainly worth something. According the The Street*, "Apple (AAPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak told CNBC Asia on Wednesday morning that he thinks electric car company Tesla (TSLA) is the 'biggest disruptor' in today's market." And this isn't surprising as Steve "Woz" Wozniak is, himself, a Tesla owner and has praised the company quite a bit in the past as well.

Above: Steve Wozniak stands next to an early Tesla Model X prototype (Source: Swarm / Foursquare)

When asked which company was the biggest disruptor, Wozniak answered: "Tesla is probably the one I think of personally because a lot of what [CEO] Elon Musk does is just really driving toward that future that we can have that is so much more beautiful and not restricted by the way things were done in the past." Woz noted that with Tesla, Elon Musk was, remarkably, the first entrepreneur to build a successful automotive company in the U.S. since 1927. His thoughts on the car: "You can own it and feel like 'I'm an owner. I can go wherever I want to go just like in a gas car.' That's changed my life a lot," he said. 

Above: Woz discusses how Tesla represents a clean energy future (Youtube: ETS | Energy Thought Summit)

Earlier this year, Wozniak did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit. He also touched on Tesla and noted that he: "absolutely loves his Tesla car. 'I [kind of] look over at my wife, and I just smile,' when he drives, he added."

Above: Woz and his wife show off their Tesla license plate (Source: A New Domain)

Wozniak has also referred to Elon Musk as the person, he thinks, may be closest to becoming the next Steve Jobs: "Not only is his product exceptional, the Tesla Model S, but his company and the business model — buy a car and you get free charging for life and you get free Internet without having to sign all these contracts, and you have very simplified purchase procedures compared to normal car sales... I just admire that so much, and I am going to follow Elon Musk."

Above: Woz with his Tesla Model S at a Supercharger (Image: Cult of Mac)

Woz has even written a blog post about a Tesla road trip to Yellowstone in which he noted: "I drove the Prius hybrid for 10 years but no EV (electric vehicle) was good enough for me. Now we drive our Tesla Model S everywhere. We totally love it. The Tesla superchargers on the roads are free... [and] you can go anywhere in the country."

Above: Owning Model S author Nick Howe (right) met up with Woz at a conference and after giving him a copy of his book, he was clearly enthused (Photo: Nick Howe)

And, soon after he took delivery of his first Tesla Model S, Woz said, "I think it's a great car, I think it's the first electric car that was worth anything. I look at it as, all the electric cars so far have been very tiny so they get better mileage on smaller batteries, you know, they can go 30 miles… Well, this [Tesla] is the first one, it's a luxury car, a big sedan that fits five people comfortably... [and] the next step is to bring it to a lower-priced market." Well... the lower-priced Tesla Model 3 is coming soon, so, we look forward to hearing Woz's reaction when he gets to drive one — you never know, it just might wind up as another Tesla in the Wozniak household.

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*Source: The Street