Elon Musk sends special invitation to Bill Gates, reports the Street.
Musk’s enmity with Gates
Elon Musk does not forgive those who doubt him. He resorts to reminding them when the opportunity arises.
Musk’s enmity with his billionaire peer Bill Gates is based on the fact that the co-founder of Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Free Report has often expressed doubts about certain ambitious projects of Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report, the manufacturer of premium electric vehicles and jewel of Musk’s empire.
Last May, Musk protested because Gates had a short position of $500 million against Tesla. Short selling stock is a bet that the stock price will drop.
“Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla the company doing the most to solve climate change,” Musk wrote to Gates. It was the end of a discussion the two billionaires were having about working together for common causes.
The mogul later accompanied his criticism with an unflattering and harsh tweet aimed at Gates.
Doubts on Tesla Semi
Musk just remembered Gates casting doubt on the feasibility and viability of long-haul electric vehicles, which was the result of a thinly veiled criticism of Tesla’s 2017 promise to produce an electric semi-truck.
“EVs excel at short-haul travel,” Gates wrote in a blog post in August 2020. “That means they’re great options for personal cars and even medium-duty vehicles, like city buses and garbage trucks. But even if we develop cheap, long-range EVs that are powered by zero-carbon sources, electrification isn’t an option for many types of transportation.”
He added: “The problem is that batteries are big and heavy. The more weight you’re trying to move, the more batteries you need to power the vehicle. But the more batteries you use, the more weight you add — and the more power you need.”
Gates, who in the same post praised General Motors (GM) – Get Free Report and Rivian (RIVN) – Get Free Report for the breakthrough in electric vehicles without mentioning Tesla, concluded:
“Even with big breakthroughs in battery technology, electric vehicles will probably never be a practical solution for things like 18-wheelers, cargo ships, and passenger jets. Electricity works when you need to cover short distances, but we need a different solution for heavy, long-haul vehicles.”
“He has no clue,” Musk hit back at the time.
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Source: The Street
