Tech giant Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has fired back at Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for doubting the ability of electric trucks and touted biofuel as a possible solution.
What’s your opinion about Bill Gates’ declarations referred to electric trucks?” a Twitter user named Richard Reina asked Musk. “He has no clue,” Musk responded.
He has no clue
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 12, 2020
“The problem is that batteries are big and heavy,” Gates wrote in a blog post. “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.”
Tesla is working on an electric semi-truck, the Tesla Semi, that can travel about 500 miles on one charge, and without a trailer can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in five seconds. It has also received orders from PepsiCo, FedEx, Walmart, UPS and Sysco.
In his blog, Gates praised several vehicle makers for producing all-electric pickup trucks, such as GM, Ford, Rivian, and Bollinger, but failed to mention Tesla, the maker of the Cybertruck pickup.
“Increased competition in the market means there are more choices available to customers than ever before, from compact sedans to sleek sports cars,” Gates wrote. “You’ll even be able to buy an all-electric pickup truck soon thanks to legacy companies like GM and Ford and new carmakers like Rivian and Bollinger.”
Musk and Gates have come face to face several times. Musk has earlier suggested that many positive COVID-19 cases reported in the US could be false. On the other hand, Gates had warned of a world-changing pandemic for several years.
There are a lot of C19 false positives messing up the numbers. Even tests with 5% false positive rate (in *field*, not lab) would show up as ~17 million fake C19 cases even if there were actually none.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2020
“He’s not much involved in vaccines. He makes a great electric car. And his rockets work well. So he’s allowed to say these things. I hope that he doesn’t confuse areas he’s not involved in too much,” said Gates in a CNBC interview.
