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Elon Musk isn’t worried that a possible Trump administration could get rid of the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles — in fact, he thinks it might actually help his company.
“I guess that there would be some impact, but I think it would be devastating for our competitors and for Tesla slightly,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk told analysts Tuesday during an earnings call.
“But long term, [it] probably actually helps Tesla,” he added, reiterating his belief that Tesla’s future is rooted in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence.
Former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump has been a major EV critic over the years, saying that electric cars will “kill” the U.S. auto industry and calling automakers’ move to produce more EVs a “transition to hell.” Trump has also reportedly offered to gut pro-EV regulations in return for the oil lobby’s support for his candidacy.
His running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, is a big advocate for — and recipient of campaign cash from— the oil lobby, and has called EVs a “scam.” As a senator, Vance has proposed doing away with the EV tax credit created by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and replacing it with a similar credit for gas-powered vehicles. Musk has endorsed both Trump and Vance.
In May, Trump said he would “impose an immediate moratorium on all new spending grants and giveaways under the Joe Biden mammoth socialist bills like the so-called inflation Reduction Act,” according to CNBC.
The IRA has been a major boon for driving EV sales and growing the industry. Since the IRA came into effect in August 2022, about $124.7 billion has been invested by companies across clean energy projects, with EVs accounting for $77.6 billion of that total, according to Manufacturing Dive. The Treasury Department in May said EV buyers have saved $600 million since January on buying new electric cars, with consumers saving an average of $6,900.
Musk on Tuesday also said that work on Tesla’s planned factory in Mexico — which was first announced in February 2023 — is on pause because Trump has said he will put new tariffs on cars made in Mexico to ward off Chinese companies like BYD. Tesla and its suppliers aim to invest $15 billion into the factory by the end of 2025 and have secured $135 million in government incentives.
“We need to see where things play out politically,” Musk said Tuesday.