The Silicon Valley billionaire claimed that Apple CEO, Tim Cook, had refused to meet him
Tesla is the undisputed pioneer in electric vehicles (EV) and their related technologies. Today most of the technologies in use for development of EVs are thanks to the efforts of Tesla in some way or the other. However, there was a time when Tesla was not doing well and its CEO Elon Musk contemplated selling it to another technology giant Apple Inc.
In response to a tweet when asked about his opinion on Apple’s self-driving car, Tesla CEO as usual not mincing words said that he had reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook “during the darkest days” of Tesla. He added that the Apple CEO had refused to take a meeting with him.
Tesla’s production mess of Model 3
This was during the development of the Model 3 program in 2017 and 2018 when Tesla struggled with production of the electric sedan. Musk at that time had informed investors that the company was in “production hell” due to issues faced at its battery factory in Reno, Nevada. This made it difficult for Tesla to ramp up production for Model 3.
However, Tesla overcame its problems and bounced by raking in a string of quarterly profits. The electric carmaker also became one of the most valuable companies to join the S&P 500 after it became part of the widely sought-after stock index on Monday.
Although Tesla’s shares ended at a 6.5 percent low in its S&P 500 debut. This development came to light after reports of Apple building a self-driving car took the internet by storm. Reports suggest that this car would enter production by 2024.
Musk revealed that he thought of Apple acquiring Tesla at what he claimed to be 1/10th of its current value. He also brought up the mono cell battery which seems to be the highlight of the upcoming self-driven car from Apple.
He further claimed that Tesla already uses some of the components that Apple is planning to use while making its cars. He went on to add that the mono cell battery “is electrochemically impossible as max voltage is ~100X too low” unless they are bonded together.
Apple’s Project Titan
Apple’s automotive efforts which have been compiled into Project Titan has come up rather unevenly ever since its inception in 2014 when it first started developing a car from scratch. Reports reveal that Apple’s central strategy revolves around the development of a battery that could radically reduce cost of future EVs and increase their single-charge range. The unique mono-cell design of Apple bulks up the individual cells in the battery and frees up space inside the battery pack.
