Elon Musk says Apple’s Tim Cook refused to have meeting to go over Tesla deal

Elon Musk reached out to Apple leader Tim Cook to go over the possible obtain of Tesla during the past, but was rebuffed.

Mr Musk said this individual approached Mr Cook during the “darkest times” of the advancement of Tesla’s Model 3 sedan - the world's top-selling electrical car - and was ready to sell the company for one-tenth of the current value. Production of the Model 3 sedan faced delays and some of the automobiles possessed defects, which dented the business's revenues.

“During the darkest days of the Model 3 programme, I reached out to Tim Make to discuss the probability of Apple acquiring Tesla [for 1/10 of our current value],” Mr Musk said on Twitter.

“He refused to have the assembly,” Mr Musk added.

In 2017, Tesla invested large amounts of capital to improve the production of the Style 3 and Mr Musk told employees at the time that the company confronted a phase of “production hell” for half a year or longer. Bloomberg explained Tesla was expecting $60bn when it approached Apple.

Mr Musk’s latest responses followed reports on Tuesday that Apple aims to create its first electric car by 2024.

Apple secretly started its automated and electric powered vehicles development - Job Titan - in 2014. It has but to publicly discuss some of its self-driving goals, but practically 5,000 engineers and scientists were reported to be working on the project by 2018.

Mr Musk also questioned the type of technology that Apple is likely to apply in its batteries. The iPhone maker is exploring the potential use of cost-effective LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries that happen to be safer to use than other lithium-ion batteries and are less likely to overheat.

“Tesla already uses iron-phosphate for medium-range vehicles … manufactured in our Shanghai factory,” Mr Musk said.

Recently, Apple has hired a number of former Tesla executives to strengthen its EV ambitions.

Doug Field, who caused Apple between 2011 and 2013 before moving to Tesla, returned to oversee the task in 2018 while vice president of particular projects.

Steve MacManus, another Tesla veteran, joined Apple as a senior director in July 2019.

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the focus on the continuing future of cars. With Tesla becoming a member of the S&P 500 index this month, some industry analysts say EVs happen to be collection to dominate the global automotive market. President-elect Joe Biden’s triumph in america elections and China announcing plans to boost the sector possess propelled the industry.

Among EV manufacturers, Tesla continued as marketplace leader last year, with 370,000 units sold globally and market share of about 16 %, from 12 % in 2018, according to McKinsey’s EV index.

In October, Tesla said it is on track to provide 500,000 cars in 2020, a 36 % increase from 2019, despite weaker sales in all of those other global auto industry.