Tech billionaires Bill Gates and Tesla’s Elon Musk have been known to occasionally take a dig at each other on the issue of electric vehicles and biofuel, and more recently – the coronavirus pandemic.
Tech billionaire Bill Gates has weighed in on the investment potential of Tesla’s electric semi-trucks for the long-haul business.
The American business magnate and investor expressed doubt that the battery-powered vehicles would ever become a “practical solution”.
The co-founder of Microsoft Corporation suggested that biofuels would be a more feasible option for commercial vehicles rather than battery power.
Gates also omitted to mention Tesla and its highly promoted Cybertruck as he credited other companies for their remarkable breakthroughs in electric vehicle technology.
The ‘Semi’
The Semi is an all-electric battery-powered Class 8 semi-truck currently in development by Tesla, Inc., touted as having a 500-mile (805 km) range on a full charge.
The fully-electric trucks, which cost between $150,000 and $180,000, are suggested by the company as able to provide more than $200,000 in fuel savings.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the electric vehicle (EV) in November 2017, hoping to deliver the trucks to customers in 2019.
However, in April, Tesla delayed production and deliveries of its all-electric Semi trucks until 2021.
In June, Musk reportedly directed the company to boost “volume production” of the Semi, said to come standard with Tesla Autopilot that allows semi-autonomous driving on highways, for its upcoming debut, according to a memo cited by CNBC.
As of 2019, companies such as Pepsi, FedEx, Walmart, UPS and Sysco have placed orders for Tesla Semis. PepsiCo was cited as saying it would use the electric vehicle to enable “environmentally sustainable” operations at its its Modesto, California manufacturing, warehousing and distribution center.
Tech Giants Trade Jabs
Bill Gates and Elon Musk have exchanged barbs before.
The Tesla CEO called Gates an “underwhelming” coversationalist and trolled him on social media, after the Microsoft co-founder said he had chosen an all-electric Porsche over a Tesla.
The repartee followed an announcement from Gates in a February interview with YouTuber Marques Brownlee that he had bought a Porsche electric vehicle.
FILE – In this Thursday, March 14, 2019 file photo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at the company’s design studio in Hawthorne, Calif.
While Gates referred to Tesla as a “hopeful” company in regarding its potential in the sphere of electric passenger vehicles, the Microsoft co-founder explained why he believed some buyers might hesitate about going electric.
The two men more recently failed to see eye to eye on the coronavirus pandemic.
While Gates was vocal about the US handling of the health crisis and importance of developing effective vaccines, Elon Musk, who earlier in March dismissed the respiratory virus fears as “dumb”, posted a 30 June tweet suggesting that many positive COVID-19 tests “could be fake”.
In response, Gates said in a CNBC interview:
Sourse: sputniknews.com
