Elon Musk says he tried selling Tesla to Apple, but Tim Cook didn’t return his call

According to SlashGear, in 2020, Elon Musk tweeted that during a particularly hellish phase (2017 into 2018) of its first mass-market EV (the Model 3), he contacted Apple’s CEO Tim Cook to see if the tech giant had any interest in buying Tesla. 

Why? According to an Axios interview, Musk claimed the EV maker was “bleeding money like crazy” and was literally “single-digit weeks” from going under. However, Musk says Cook “refused to take the meeting.”

 According to Forbes, Cook’s decision cost Apple $640 billion. Tesla avoided the worst-case scenario and weathered the storm. 

I’m not sure why Forbes thinks Cook’s decision cost Apple $640 million. Perhaps acquiring Tesla could have made a big difference in the rumored Apple Car plans. 

A Dec. 6 Bloomberg report says that Apple has scaled back its “ambitious” plans for a self-driving electric car and postponed the launch date back a year to 2026. The article says that Apple plans to sell a consumer “Apple Car” for “under” $100,000. Other points from the article:

° Apple wanted its vehicle to come without a steering wheel or pedals, but has decided that such a plan isn’t feasible at this time.

° The Apple Car will have guided driving features that work on highways, but won’t be fully autonomous.

° Apple currently plans to develop a vehicle that lets drivers conduct other tasks — say, watch a movie or play a game — on a freeway and be alerted with ample time to switch over to manual control if they reach city streets or encounter inclement weather. 

° It will sport an Apple-designed custom processor to power AI (artificial intelligence) functionality.

° It will use the cloud for some AI processing.

° Apple might offer a remote command center that could assist drivers and control cars from afar during emergencies.

° Apple may also offer its own insurance program.

° Apple still hasn’t dialed in on a design for its first vehicle and the team is still working in a “pre-prototype” stage.