A few weeks ago, Elon Musk posted on Twitter that it has always been Tesla’s view that there should be no subsidies. In a recent interview, he reiterates this view. According to him, the United States does not need government infrastructure bills or any form of government subsidies. He said, “They should all be cancelled”. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX said in the interview that he is worried about the federal deficit. He said: “We have spent so much money… The federal budget deficit is very crazy. I want to say, hope. Don’t pass the entire bill, this is my suggestion”.
Elon Musk pointed out that Tesla has been selling electric vehicles in the United States for more than a year without being able to continue to enjoy the $7,500 federal tax incentives. He claims even without subsidies, the market demand for the company’s vehicles remains intact. Except for General Motors, many other automakers are still eligible for subsidies.
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The Build Back Better section of the President’s infrastructure plan includes a clause designed to extend the subsidy and add another subsidy for electric cars produced by union workers. Currently, this plan still needs to be approved by the Senate. Musk has been mocking trade union-focused subsidies in recent months and called the president a “puppet” for the Union of Auto Workers (UAW).
Tesla has been a recipient of several government subsidies
Musk also said that he does not believe that the US government should provide subsidies for the expansion of charging infrastructure. This is part of the infrastructure bill that the president recently signed. Musk said: “Do we need support when we build gas stations? No, so we don’t need subsidies when we build charging stations”. Tesla currently operates more than 3,000 charging stations around the world, with a total of about 30,000 cars. The company plans to open this network to other brands of electric vehicles in the near future.
Musk said on Monday that when Tesla was first established, they did not “expect themselves to receive any subsidies”. However, the fact is that Musk’s companies have benefited from multiple federal and state government subsidies for many years. The U.S. government is SpaceX’s main customer. The company has defeated established companies by drastically lowering prices and winning a government contract. In addition, in China, Tesla has also received a lot of help from the government, thus achieving success in the world’s largest auto market.
