Elon Musk: Bill Gates has no clue about electric trucks

Electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticized billionaire Bill Gates for speaking about the viability of larger electric trucks.

In response to a question from a Twitter user on Saturday about his opinion of Gates' opinions, Musk replied: He has no clue.

He has no clue

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 12, 2020

Bill Gates outlined his thoughts on electric cars in a blog post on August 24th in which he wrote the best and cheapest batteries that will make electric cars a realistic choice for every car owner.

But it cast doubt on whether current or future battery technology could be scaled up to power larger trucks.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, wrote: Even with major breakthroughs in battery technology, electric cars aren't likely to be a viable solution for things like vehicles with up to 18 wheels, cargo ships and passenger aircraft.

"Electricity is appropriate when it comes to short distances, but we need a different solution for heavy, long-distance vehicles," he said.

Gates explained that alternative fuels such as biofuels or electric fuels could be a better and more environmentally friendly way to operate larger vehicles such as trucks, and said: The batteries are very large and heavy for longer distances.

Gates also praised several automakers for producing all-electric pickup trucks such as GM, Ford, Rivian and Bollinger but did not mention Tesla, the maker of the Cybertruck.

Gates' comments came as Musk was developing an electric truck and the Tesla Semi was unveiled in 2017 and was due to be shipped to customers in 2019.

But the electric truck is two years behind schedule and Tesla now expects to deliver it to its owners in 2021.

It is reported that this is not the first time that Gates and Musk have clashed as Gates criticized Musk's inaccurate public comments about COVID-19.

In February, Musk said: His previous talks with Gates were disappointing after the billionaire Microsoft revealed that his first electric car was not manufactured by Tesla, but from Porsche Taycan.