--- title: "Elon Musk Reveals That Apple Refused to Buy Tesla" description: "Tesla CEO Elon Musk reflected on a recent Reuters report that suggested Apple is bringing a self-driving passenger vehicle to market as soon as 2024." date: "2020-12-22" modified: "2020-12-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-reveals-that-apple-refused-to-buy-tesla" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "apple" - "elon musk" - "Model 3" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Reveals That Apple Refused to Buy Tesla ![Tesla CEO Elon Musk reflected on a recent Reuters report that suggested Apple is bringing a self-driving passenger vehicle to market as soon as 2024.]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* ## Clash of the Titans According to a recent [*Reuters* exclusive](), tech giant Apple is working on a [self-driving car]() that could hit the market as soon as 2024. The vehicle, known as Project Titan, has been in the works for over six years. Despite layoffs, Apple has ambitious plans for its first foray into the passenger vehicle market: a "radically" redesigned car battery that uses "next-level" technologies. The report was short on details about this new battery tech beyond it using a "monocell" battery design. Tesla CEO Elon Musk [reflected on the surprising announcement]() via Twitter Tuesday afternoon — and revealed some interesting history between the two companies. ## Not Interested There was a time, Musk revealed, that he tried to interest Apple in buying the nascent Tesla. "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)," Musk wrote in a [separate tweet](). Tesla had to overcome [numerous production challenges]() with its Model 3. The sedan faced several years of delays, with the company struggling to scale up production fast enough to meet demand. At one point, Musk resorted to [sleeping on a couch]() at the company's factory in Fremont, California. But Cook "refused to take the meeting," Musk recalled. ## Celling Sunset Musk also weighed in on *Reuters*' reporting that Apple will be using a next-generation battery. According to Musk, Tesla may already have implemented similar technologies in its cars. "Tesla already uses iron-phosphate for medium range cars made in our Shanghai factor," [Musk wrote](). "A monocell is electrochemically impossible, as max voltage is \~100X too low," he added. "Maybe they meant cells bonded together, like our structural battery pack?" **More on the iCar:** *[Apple Is Reportedly Releasing a Self-Driving Car in 2024]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()