Bill Gates threw some cold water on Elon Musk’s recent comments on the Tesla semi – project and the possibility of commercial electric aircraft.

Is he right?

In recent years, Gates has focused on using his fortune to solve and solve major problems in the world.

He has been gaining more attention recently due to early warnings that the world was not ready for an epidemic before the COVID-19 crisis.

He now uses his platform to issue similar warnings about climate change:

Earlier this month I wrote about COVID-19, a precautionary measure against climate change. There is no doubt that we have experienced terrible suffering and financial hardship over the past few months. But while we are still in the midst of an epidemic, it is now hard to imagine that climate change could be even more devastating.

In A new blog post, He emphasizes the need to electrify transportation to address climate change.

However, he made some controversial comments about the segments going electrically.

Gates believes passenger vehicles will be electrified, and to some extent already have:

“Plus, increased competition in the market means that consumers have more choices than ever before, from compact sedans to attractive sports cars. Thanks to legacy companies like GM and Ford, and new car makers like Rivian and Bollinger, you can buy an electric pick-up truck right away. ”

Founder of Microsoft Drive a Model X., Deceived Tesla and its cybertruck in referring to electric pickup trucks.

No big deal, but he claims that electric semi-trucks like the Tesla semi and electric jets “will never happen” where Gates’ comments are more controversial:

The problem is that the batteries are large and heavy. The more weight you try to move, the more batteries the vehicle needs to power. But the more batteries you use, the more weight you add and the more power you need. Despite the great advances in battery technology, electric vehicles have never been a viable solution for 18-wheelers, cargo ships, and passenger jets. Electricity works when you have to travel short distances, but for longer and longer distances we need another solution. ”

Although many electric semi truck programs like the Tesla Semi and Freight Liner e Cascadia are far from over.

In the case of electric aircraft, Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicts that the batteries will be viable when they reach a power concentration of 400 Wh / kg, which is currently used by many battery manufacturers.

Instead, Gates suggests biofuels as an alternative to batteries for those categories of transportation.

Electrex Take

I don’t pretend to be smarter than Bill Gates, but I would like to revisit these comments because I think he doesn’t look the right way.

First of all, batteries are not “big and heavy”.

If you look at the problem through that lens, you assume that we have reached the efficiency limit for all such vehicles (trucks, cargo ships, aircraft).

I don’t think that’s right.

With the electrification of passenger cars, manufacturers have redoubled their efforts to increase efficiency by using less batteries in their vehicles, and they have found ample space for improvements.

As trucks and aircraft begin to electrify, we will find new efficiency improvements because “demand is the mother of invention.”

We didn’t have that need now.

If you want to focus on batteries, it’s kind of crazy that he does not believe that electric trucks and planes can improve their capabilities.

Considering he is a major investor in QuantumScope, their technology claims to enable 500 Wh / kg batteries:

This is enough to enable long range electric 18-wheelers and even commercial jets.

What am I missing? Let me know your opinion in the comment section below.

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