Watch: Elon Musk test drives electric Volkswagen and says 'it's pretty good'
He took an ID.3 electric car for a spin with VW Chairman Herbert Diess
Elon Musk has been moonlighting as a test driver ... for Volkswagen.
VW Group CEO Herbert Diess revealed that while Musk was visiting Germany last week, the two met at Braunschweig Airport, where he offered the Tesla CEO a drive in a VW ID.3 electric hatchback.
The competitors have been complimentary of each other’s efforts in the electric car space, even as Tesla moves into VW’s turf with the construction of a new factory outside Berlin.
“I think for a non-sporty car it’s pretty good,” Musk said in a video Diess posted to LinkedIn. Diess said in the comments that Musk was “quite critical with the available torque at high speed” and suggested that he try a Porsche Taycan, which is also built by VW Group.
BMW CEO Oliver Zispe, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Volkswagen Chairman Herbert Diess celebrated their brands receiving Golden Steering Wheel awards from Auto Bild magazine last November. (JORG CARSTENSEN/dpa/AFP via Getty Images)
Looking to quell speculation that there was more to the meeting than a friendly conversation between colleagues, Diess later added, “Just to be clear: We just drove the ID.3 and had a chat - there is no deal/cooperation in the making.”
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 352.56 | +12.92 | +3.80% |
| VWAGY | VOLKSWAGEN AG | 8.78 | +0.04 | +0.46% |
Volkswagen has entered a joint venture with Ford, however, that will result in an electric car built on the ID.3 platform for sale in Europe by Ford as early as 2023.
The ID.3 is currently on sale in Germany at a starting price of 35,000 euros ($41,247.67) and offers a range of 330 km to 550 km (205 miles to 341.75 miles) per charge in European testing, depending on the size of the battery pack, while the Tesla Model 3's base price is 42,900 euros ($50,565.59) and is rated from 402 km to 543 km (249.79 to 337.4 miles).