Herbert Diess was visibly proud when he introduced the brand new Volkswagen ID3 to Tesla CEO Elon Musk seven months in the past.
Throughout a go to to Germany final yr, Musk went to Brunswick in VW’s dwelling state of Decrease Saxony to check the ID3, the German automaker’s new Golf-sized full-electric hatchback. The ID3 is the primary of a brand new era of VW Group battery-powered vehicles with which the corporate goals to topple Tesla as the worldwide EV gross sales chief.
Diess posted a selfie of himself and Musk after the occasion. Musk praised the ID3, and Diess beamed.
The mutual esteem has apparently existed for a while — in 2015, Musk tried to poach Diess, who was then BMW’s head of improvement — to turn into CEO of Tesla.
Diess declined Musk’s supply and as an alternative joined VW as a administration board member on July 1, 2015. Diess turned VW’s CEO in 2018.
Musk’s supply was first reported by Enterprise Insider on Tuesday. Sources with information of the matter confirmed the report back to Automobilwoche, a sister publication of Automotive Information Europe, and to the German business daily Handelsblatt.
Tesla had already drawn up a contract for Diess that was able to be signed, the sources stated.
Musk needed handy over the CEO put up to Diess in order that he may think about his position as Tesla chairman. On the time, the Tesla founder was nonetheless performing each features.
Already at BMW, Diess was one of many greatest advocates of electrical mobility and a supporter of the automaker’s Challenge i, which launched the i3 full-electric hatchback in 2013 and i8 plug-in hybrid sports activities automotive a yr later.
As early as 2008, when he was BMW’s chief procurement officer, Diess had stated: “Electrical drive is a core competence that we’ll not let go of.”
Diess additionally stated: “The i3 and i8 are the spearheads with which BMW is getting into the brand new age.”
His feedback apparently attracted the eye of Musk.
Nevertheless, to the surface world, Musk was not impressed by the i3. “I am glad to see BMW launching an electrical automotive,” he stated after the i3’s launch when he was presenting Tesla’s quarterly figures. “That is cool.”
After which added pointedly, “There’s nonetheless room for enchancment with the i3, and I hope they do.” He then broke right into a match of laughter.
Diess had formidable plans to quickly develop BMW’s i fleet. However he was unable to get board approval. After the sluggish gross sales begin of the i3, there have been increasingly doubters within the firm. Diess needed to develop the “i” lineup with the bigger i5 to problem the Tesla Mannequin S. In response to Automobilwoche sources, the i5, which was already virtually completed, was dropped after Diess left the BMW board.
Diess had deliberate a pure electrical car with a excessive content material of light-weight carbon. A number of prototypes had been proven to the administration board, however they had been rejected repeatedly as too expensive. It was solely at VW that Diess was in a position to understand his formidable electrical plans.
BMW now plans to launch an i5 electrical sedan primarily based on a modified combustion engine platform in 2023 or 2024.