Elon Musk Still Fired Up Over Bill Gates' 'Impossible' Tesla Semi Remark Despite Its Success

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk responded to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates‘ skepticism about the company’s electric semi-trucks, suggesting it was unfounded.

What Happened: The disagreement between Musk and Gates resurfaced following excerpts from Walter Isaacson‘s biography that delved into the origins of their clash.

Gates had previously stated that 18-wheeler trucks were not suitable for electric propulsion, claiming that electricity worked for short distances but not for heavy long-haul vehicles. 

“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,” Gates wrote in his blog dated Aug. 2020.

Musk countered by pointing out that the Tesla Semi was already in use across the country and questioned the basis for Gates’ conclusions, to which Gates had no detailed response.

“Gates also said the Tesla Semi was impossible, even though it was literally being driven all over the country,” Musk said. “When I asked what battery Wh/kg and truck Wh/mile he was using to reach the conclusion that it's impossible, Gates had no idea, but still stuck with his conclusion.”

Why It Matters: Tesla unveiled the semi-truck in 2017. Though it was expected to be in production in 2019, the first deliveries were eventually made to PepsiCo in December last year.

It’s worth noting that Bill Gates is short on Tesla, and Musk declined Gates’ philanthropic proposals in 2022 due to this position. 

“The lack of self-awareness and hypocrisy of Gates who had the nerve to ask me to donate to his mostly window-dressing environmental causes, while simultaneously aiming to make $500M from Tesla's demise, boggles the mind,” Musk wrote on Monday.

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