Elon Musk gets schooled in EV Twitter fight with Daimler

Because we simply don't have enough drama in the world right now, it seems that Tesla's Elon Musk and Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, have engaged in a Twitter tussle. It seems to have started when Musk shared a story from USA Today that covered Mercedes-Benz's $1 billion investment in electric cars. It's possible this story jumped out at Musk since the headline specifically highlighted Tesla as the company Mercedes is looking to beat. In addition to sharing the article, Musk stated that it wasn't a lot of money for such a big company, suggesting Mercedes should be spending $10 billion.

That's not a lot of money for a giant like Daimler/Mercedes. Wish they'd do more. Off by a zero.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 24, 2017

This caught the attention of Daimler, which responded with some info of its own. Specifically the company linked to a website that lists all of the company's investments into electric vehicles and the upcoming EQ brand. Along with that link, the company stated that the over $1 billion investment is in the Alabama factory where batteries and the first EQ electric crossover will be built. It is, in fact, spending over $10 billion on the rest of its EV development.

You're absolutely right @elonmusk. Here the missing zero: Investing >$10bn in nxt gen EVs & >$1bn in battery prod. https://t.co/Tk747isWAc

— Daimler AG (@Daimler) September 25, 2017

Musk, having been schooled, could only reply:

Good

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 25, 2017

Daimler also took on a few Musk supporters. One seemed to give Musk a bit too much credit for Daimler's investments.

I am sorry but we've announced this investment back in 2016

— Daimler AG (@Daimler) September 26, 2017

And the other seemed to believe that Daimler isn't serious about EV plans.

the smart was the first #EV in mass-production since 2007. We are working on Evs for over 100 years and we believe in it's potential

— Daimler AG (@Daimler) September 26, 2017

Also, just as a recap of some of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz's electric plans: The company plans to introduce a full electric crossover for 2020, with a total of 10 EVs by 2025. Additionally, the company announced that it should have 50 electrified models, which will include hybrids, by 2022, and the Smart brand will eventually go fully electric, globally, expanding on a previous announcement that it would go fully electric in America.