Elon Musk says Bill Gates is clueless about electric trucks
What's the story
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of EV maker Tesla, has slammed Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates over his views on the future of electric trucks. He says that the tech legend, currently making headlines for contributing in the fight against COVID-19, has no clue whatsoever about the technology he is talking about. Here's more on what he said.
Comments
Gates expressed hopes on electric cars, but doubted larger EVs
In a recent blog post on August 24, Gates claimed that better and cheaper battery technology will eventually make "EVs a realistic option for every car owner." However, when speaking about larger vehicles, aka electric trucks, ships, and jets, the billionaire philanthropist doubted whether current or even future battery technology could be enough to make them mainstream.
Quote
This is what Gates wrote
"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."
Solutions
Biofuels, electrofuels suggested as possible alternatives
Adding more, Gates said battery packs today are too big and heavy to be used for long-distance travel and possible solutions might include biofuels or electro-fuels. He went on to praise GM, Ford, Rivian, and Bollinger for coming up with all-electric pickup trucks but did not mention Musk's Tesla which has also unveiled Tesla Semi and Cybertruck pickup.
Response
In response, Musk said Gates has 'no clue'
Owing to these remarks, one of Musk's millions of fans asked what he thinks about the comments made by Gates. "What's your opinion about Bill Gates' declarations referred to electric trucks?," the fan asked, prompting Musk to reply back with a straight-up "he has no clue". Clearly, Musk is not a fan of Gates's opinion on larger electric vehicles.
Previous case
They both have clashed before too
Notably, in the past too, the world's third and seventh richest tech moguls have clashed over different opinions. Gates has previously criticized Musk's inaccurate comments on COVID-19 in the public, while Musk had said that his interaction with Microsoft-co-founder was 'underwhelming' in response to Gates's revelation that his first electric car was not a Tesla Model, but a Porsche Taycan.