When Tesla CEO Elon Musk departed from Giga Berlin after his quick stop to check on the progress of construction yesterday, everyone thought his private jet was heading back to the US.
Instead, Musk took a short 26 minute flight to nearby Braunschweig, where he had an unannounced meeting with Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess.
Landed just now in Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, DE. Apx. flt. time 00 Hours : 26 Mins pic.twitter.com/zGqEWzRfkj
— Elon Musk & SpaceX's Jet (@ElonJet) September 3, 2020
According to local media reports, Diess and Musk spent about two hours together at the airport, discussing topics like electrification and digitization of the auto industry.
It wasn’t all talk though, as Diess reportedly brought along the ID.3 and ID.4 for Musk to inspect and test out for himself on the airport runway.
The ID.3 has been experiencing major software issues which are so bad the automaker was unable to fix them before delivery. Instead, customers will have to wait for an over-the-air (OTA) software update, reportedly coming later this year.
Diess is no stranger to Tesla, having complimented the automaker earlier this year after Tesla reported another quarterly profit in Q2. Responding to a LinkedIn post from Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, Professor and Director at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), Diess said Tesla could one day be the most valuable automaker in the world.
But the German CEO think his company’s efforts in electrification, with the upcoming ID.3 and ID.4, will help them overtake Tesla in the EV race.
