Last week Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess held an unannounced meeting at a small airport in Germany after Musk toured the construction at Giga Berlin.
During the meeting Musk had the opportunity to check out VW’s ID.3 and ID.4 electric vehicles, even getting to take the ID.3 hatchback out for a short drive.
Based on new comments on the German CEO’s social media site of choice, LinkedIn, it appears the test drive last week may have been in response to Diess’ test drive of a new Tesla Model Y.
Responding to his original post where he shared the video of Musk driving the ID.3, Diess revealed he had also recently driven the Model Y with VW’s Chief Development Officer, Frank Welsch.
Diess came away from the test drive impressed, saying the electric SUV acts as a “reference” for other automakers in terms of user experience, over-the-air (OTA) software updates, charging network, range, and more.
The CEO also shared what he thinks is a big reason why legacy automakers have yet to produce an electric vehicle that can compete with Tesla. He points out the Model Y was developed as an EV from the start, whereas the competition simply tries to convert their existing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric. Since the two have very different needs, the customer end up with a sub-par product.
We’ll be sure to keep an eye on LinkedIn to see if a video of their test drive is posted soon.
Diess is hoping his ID.4 electric SUV, which was also developed from the ground up as an EV using VW’s MEB platform, will be able to take some market share from the Model Y. It is scheduled for release in the US later this year and in Canada in early 2021, and will first only come in a RWD version, with an AWD version to arrive at a later date.
Source: InsideEVs
