Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday said on Twitter that he once reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook about the possibility of the electric car maker being acquired by Apple. Musk says Cook “refused to take the meeting.”
Musk says he made the overture to Apple during “darkest days of the Model 3 program,” offering Tesla for 1/10 of its value. Musk’s tweet came in response to a recent Reuters report about Apple’s work on an upcoming Apple Car.
During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020
The Reuters report claims Apple is taking aim at 2024 as the year it will begin production on an “Apple Car” self-driving vehicle. Unnamed sources told Reuters that Apple is developing a new battery design that has the potential to “radically” reduce the cost of batteries and increase the vehicle’s range.
Apple is building a “monocell” battery design that will free up space inside the battery pack by removing pouches and modules that hold battery materials.
Musk also tweeted the Apple Car rumors are “strange if true” and that a monocell design is “electrochemically impossible.”
Strange, if true.
– Tesla already uses iron-phosphate for medium range cars made in our Shanghai factory.
– A monocell is electrochemically impossible, as max voltage is ~100X too low. Maybe they meant cells bonded together, like our structural battery pack?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020
Apple and Tesla have long been in a battle over poaching each other’s employees once Apple began gearing up its Apple Car project. Musk has been quoted as saying Apple is the “Tesla Graveyard.”
“They have hired people we’ve fired,” Musk said. “We always jokingly call Apple the ‘Tesla Graveyard.’ If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding.”
Apple and Tesla could become direct competitors in the auto space as soon as 2024 if Apple’s work on a vehicle continues to advance.
