Elon Musk calls Bill Gates 'underwhelming' after Porsche purchase
Gates discussed 'range anxiety' as one of his concerns about electric vehicles
Elon Musk took a shot at Bill Gates on social media, calling the fellow billionaire "underwhelming," after the Microsoft co-founder said he bought an all-electric Porsche over a Tesla.
"My conversations with Gates have been underwhelming [to be honest]," Musk tweeted Monday evening in response to a user who brought up Gates' decision.
Gates announced the purchase in an interview last week with YouTuber Marques Brownlee and called Tesla a "hopeful" company in terms of building electric passenger vehicles. Gates also discussed "range anxiety" -- or concerns about how far an electric car can go before it needs another charge -- as one of the reasons why buyers may be hesitant about going electric.
"All the car companies, including some other new ones, are moving super fast to do electric cars," Gates said. "Actually, the biggest concern is: Will consumers overcome that range anxiety? I just got a Porsche Tycan ... my first electric car, and I'm enjoying it a lot."
Gates did, however, explain why he thinks the EV industry is "one of the most hopeful" in regard to climate change initiatives.
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Some Twitter users said Gates has been a lifelong Porsche driver. Another posted side-by-side comparison pictures of the interiors of both cars, highlighting the differences between the Taycan's dashboard and the Model 3's.
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During the interview, Gates was also asked why he believes consumers might decide not to go electric.
"The range," Gates said. "If you want to go a long distance, the pervasiveness of recharging, the time to recharge, compared to filling up a tank of gas --- the amount of energy that's going in per minute of filling your gas tank is mind-blowing. Gasoline is very dense energy -- 30 times more dense than the current lithium batteries."
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The Microsoft co-founder also mentioned that "it's important" for the price of EVs -- in addition to the insurance and repairs for the vehicles -- to "come down."
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