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Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to take a meeting years ago to discuss acquiring Tesla, Elon Musk said on Tuesday. Tesla CEO Musk said in a tweet that he reached out to Apple during the "darkest days" of development of his company's Model 3 to talk about a possible deal. Musk said he planned to discuss the possibility of selling Tesla to Apple for one-tenth of its current value, indicating a valuation of about $60 billion. The tweet:
During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020
Background
The tweet came out in response to Apple reportedly planning to launch self-driving passenger vehicle in 2024. Apple plans to use lithium iron phosphate battery and multiple lidar sensors. The former will reduce overheating and is safer than other types of lithium-ion batteries. Further, the multiple lidar sensors will scan different distances. Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro models released this year both feature lidar sensors.
Elon Musk said that Tesla already uses iron-phosphate for medium-range cars made in the Shanghai factory. Talking about the usage of monocell, he said, "A monocell is electrochemically impossible, as the max voltage is ~100X too low. Maybe they meant cells bonded together, like our structural battery pack?"
In 2017, Tesla burned cash as it ramped up output of its mass-market Model 3 electric vehicle. Elon Musk also told employees at the company's Fremont, California, plant that it faced a period of "production hell" for six months or longer. Further, weeks after making that statement, he tweeted about sleeping on the roof of a factory as he tried to resolve bottlenecks.
However, Tesla overcame the problems and has since posted up a string of quarterly profits. This week, the electric carmaker became one of the most valuable companies to join the S&P 500 index.