Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of electric auto brand Tesla, has belittled Apple’s reported strategy to develop an electrical car and described the tech giant as a “Tesla graveyard” of engineering talent.
When asked to comment on Apple’s current recruitment of one particular of Tesla’s “most critical” engineers, Musk responded by saying Apple only employ folks that could not make the grade at Tesla.
“Important engineers? They have hired folks we have fired,” mentioned Musk in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt. “We often jokingly contact Apple the Tesla Graveyard.”
“If you do not make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple,” he continued. “I’m not kidding.”
Connected story: Apple could launch its first electric automobile in subsequent four many years
Reviews emerged last month that Apple, which not too long ago up to date client items and launched a stylus named Apple Pencil, is aggressively expanding its team focused to building an electrical auto layout codenamed “Titan”. The tech giant hopes to launch the car publicly by 2019, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Questioned about regardless of whether he will take Apple’s reported electrical automobile ambitions critically, Musk – who also founded PayPal and Room X – laughed and asked if the interviewer had ever “taken a seem at the Apple Observe”.
Apple View layout
“No, seriously: It truly is good that Apple is moving and investing in this course,” clarified Musk. “But vehicles are very complex in contrast to phones or smartwatches. You can not just go to a supplier like Foxconn and say: construct me a auto.”
“But for Apple,” he continued, “the vehicle is the subsequent logical factor to lastly offer a considerable innovation. A new pencil or a greater iPad alone were not related sufficient.”
Related story: Elon Musk launches Tesla batteries for the property in bid to reduce fossil fuel usage
Musk’s comments support to highlight the considerable shift towards electrical and hybrid technologies in the motoring business, the place traditional manufacturers’ reliance on petrol-powered cars is getting undermined by companies this kind of as Google, Tesla and reportedly Apple.
At this year’s Geneva Motor Present, car manufacturers this kind of as Audi, Bentley and Aston Martin all unveiled models that use battery technology, all rushing to not be left behind in a quick-creating battle to develop lengthy-assortment and vitality-efficient electrical vehicles.
Porsche’s all-electrical Mission E idea auto
Most lately, Porsche – owned by German manufacturer Volkswagen, which is even now reeling from a scandal right after it was found that the company’s diesel autos have been made to cheat in emission exams – launched its first all-electric sports auto after very first noting Tesla’s market-major place.
In the interview with Handelsblatt, Musk welcomed the move by standard companies such as Audi and Porsche into the electrical-auto industry.
“Any action in the route of electrical mobility is great,” he stated. “Our goal at Tesla is for vehicles to transition to e-cars. Which is why we opened up all our patents for use by anyone.”
Tesla’s Model X SUV
Tesla’s 1st sports utility car (SUV) was unveiled at the company’s California factory final month and described by Musk as “the safest SUV ever created”.
“It truly is important to show that any sort of car can go electrical,” stated Elon Musk at the launch occasion.
Other autos developed to investigate the long term of automobile design and style include Mercedes-Benz’s driverless “residing space”, a solar-powered household vehicle and a salt water-powered electrical auto.
