Elon Musk blasted fellow billionaire Bill Gates, saying he's clueless about electric trucks

Elon Musk Bill Gates — AP/Jae C. Hong/Yana Paskova/Getty/Business Insider composite

Tesla CEO Elon Musk blasted Bill Gates, saying "he has no clue" about the viability of electric trucks.
Musk was responding to a Twitter user who asked how he felt about Gates' declaration that electric vehicles weren't practical for long-haul journeys.
Gates wrote in the August post: "Electricity works when you need to cover short distances, but we need a different solution for heavy, long-haul vehicles."
Tesla unveiled its Semi truck in 2017, but it is two years behind its original 2019 delivery schedule.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticized his fellow billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates over his views on the viability of bigger electric vehicles.

Asked by a Twitter user on Saturday what he thought of Gates' views, Musk responded: "He has no clue."

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 12, 2020

Gates outlined his thoughts on electric vehicles in an August 24 blog post, writing that "better and cheaper batteries ... will hopefully make EVs a realistic option for every car owner."

But he cast doubt on whether current or even future battery tech could ramp up to power larger vehicles.

Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, 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."

Tesla Semi — Tesla is working on the Semi truck for 2021.
Tesla

Gates continued that alternative fuels such as biofuels or electrofuels could be better, greener way to power bigger vehicles like trucks. Batteries, he said, are too big and heavy for longer distances.

Gates also 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.

Musk's firm also happens to be working on an electric truck. The Tesla Semi was unveiled in 2017 and was slated to be shipped to customers in 2019. But the vehicle is two years behind schedule, with Tesla now expecting to get the vehicle to owners in 2021.

it isn't the first time the two billionaires have clashed. Gates has criticized Musk's inaccurate public comments about COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Musk said in February his prior conversations with Gates were "underwhelming" after the Microsoft billionaire revealed his first electric vehicle was not a Tesla, but a Porsche Taycan.

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