Musk Duels Panasonic in Rare Public Battle With Key Supplier

Elon Musk, Chairman, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors, addresses a press conference to declare that the Tesla Motors releases v7.0 System in China on a limited basis for its Model S, which will enable self-driving features such as Autosteer for a select group of beta testers in Beijing, China, on Oct. 23, 2015. VCG/Getty Images

Elon Musk has engaged in Twitter spats with a long line of folks, from rival automakers to short sellers and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He’s at it again, but this time the stakes could be even higher. He’s in a rare public dispute with a critical supplier: Panasonic Corp., the company that makes all of the lithium-ion battery cells that power Tesla Inc.’s electric vehicles.