Tesla would possibly need to kill EV incentives within the US due to Elon Musk’s politics, however the automaker remains to be lobbying for them in different markets.
It’s highlighting Tesla’s clear drawback of placing its CEO’s politics above its personal mission.
Tesla is caught in a bizarre scenario within the US.
A number of years in the past, the automaker was lobbying the Biden administration for a reform of federal EV incentives, which the federal government carried out.
On the time, its CEO Elon Musk, who has been on a “mission to kill the woke thoughts virus” since his daughter Vivian got here out as trans, stated that he was in opposition to extending the tax credit score as he was already cozying as much as right-wing politicians.
However his firm was nonetheless lobbying for it on the time.
Now, issues are altering. Musk has turn out to be one in every of Donald Trump’s largest supporters, and he has introduced Tesla nearer to his politics.
Trump has made it clear that he needs to get rid of all EV incentives within the US, and this time, Musk just isn’t the one one backing him.
A current report acknowledged that Tesla communicated to the Trump transition crew that the automaker is on board with killing EV incentives.
That is Tesla, which is 15% owned by Musk, however the board is firmly in his management, as evidenced by findings in his CEO compensation courtroom case, aligning with its CEO’s politics within the US.
In different markets, issues are completely different.
A recently uncovered letter confirmed that Tesla approached the Labor Get together following their current win within the UK to foyer for extra EV incentives and better taxes on petrol autos, the precise reverse of what Tesla and Musk now stand for within the US.
Within the letter addressed to the brand new minister of transportation, Tesla’s head of Europe, Joe Ward, acknowledges the UK’s want to scale back its emissions and the way necessary electrical autos are to attain this purpose.
He means that the federal government brings again stronger EV incentives by growing taxes on fossil fuel-powered autos:
Buy incentives have been mentioned at nice size publicly, if Treasury had been to contemplate any schemes, these ought to be income impartial. Given new fossil-fueled autos lock in excessive emissions and a worth must be positioned on this. The Authorities ought to ask if these nonetheless selecting to buy a brand new polluting automobile, to pay extra. This might create a income impartial mannequin to assist ZEV uptake.
The Tesla government can also be lobbying for brand spanking new autonomous automobile laws and has supplied a check drive to the minister.
Right here’s the letter in full:
Electrek’s Take
Within the US, Tesla is arguing to take away EV incentives and within the UK, it’s arguing to extend them.
To me, it appears like Tesla is caught between a rock and a tough place – the rock being doing the appropriate factor and the onerous place being Elon Musk’s politics.
If Tesla had been actually taking care of its mission to speed up the appearance of sustainable transport and vitality, it might be advocating for a good market the place the exterior prices of fossil fuel-powered autos are accounted for and/or the advantages of electrical autos are pretty compensated.
That’s exactly what it’s doing within the UK, because of Joe Ward, however not within the US? Why?
The one reply to that query is Elon Musk.
Tesla is now placing its CEO’s politics above its personal mission. Musk can’t come out for extra taxes on fossil fuel-powered autos or extra incentives for EVs as a result of that goes in opposition to Trump’s politics, who he spent greater than $250 million to place again in energy.
He shouldn’t be in command of Tesla anymore, and it will possibly’t be clearer than with this example.
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