Elon Musk met with Volkswagen's CEO while in Germany and test-drove its competing electric model

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk was in Germany this week.
• He toured the company's under-construction factory and met with Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess.
• The billionaire also test-drove the ID.3, VW's competing electric vehicle, sources told Reuters.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk met Volkswagen's chief executive, Herbert Diess, for a courtesy visit during which Musk took a test-drive in Volkswagen's new electric car, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.

According to local media, whose reports were confirmed by Bloomberg and Reuters, Musk flew to the Braunschweig, Germany, airport near Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg after departing Berlin. There, he test-drove the company's ID.3 electric car during a two-hour meeting with Diess.

A spokeswoman for Volkswagen declined to comment on the meeting. A spokeswoman for Tesla could not be reached for comment. Musk was also scheduled to meet with Germany's economic minister, Peter Altmaier.

—Volkswagen Group (@VWGroup) September 4, 2020

Diess has long been outspoken in his praise of Musk.

"Elon Musk delivers results that many did not think possible," he said on LinkedIn in July. "They show: you can be profitable with electric cars. As one of few car manufacturers (Porsche AG also, for example), Tesla will drive through the corona crisis without a quarter of losses."

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 3, 2020

At Tesla's under-construction factory, Musk said Tesla planned to manufacture batteries there for its vehicles.

"It will be the first time that there will be a transformation in the core structural design of the vehicle. It's quite a big thing. Both manufacturing, engineering, and design as well," he said, according to video from the event. "The three elements needed for a sustainable energy future are sustainable-energy generation, energy storage, and sustainable transport, electric cars."