Hyperdrive

Musk Test-Drives VW Electric Car in Meeting With CEO Diess

Elon Musk speaks at the site of the new Tesla Gigafactory near Gruenheide on Sept. 3.Photographer: Maja Hitij/Getty Images

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By Christoph Rauwald

September 4, 2020 at 3:20 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Before Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk returned to the U.S. after a three-day visit to Germany, he made a final stopover to meet with one of his biggest competitors -- Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess.

The two auto executives met at a small airport in Braunschweig for about two hours on Thursday evening and Musk test-drove VW’s ID.3 electric-car, according to people familiar with the matter. Musk also inspected the ID.4 electric SUV that VW will launch toward the end of the year, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the meeting wasn’t public.