Tesla supports killing $7,500 EV tax credit – going directly against its mission
Tesla reportedly supports the Trump administration’s plan to kill the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles – something in direct contradiction to Tesla’s original mission to accelerate the entire industry’s transition to electric transport.
Elon Musk, who has both financed and “fully endorsed” Donald Trump, has walked back much of his prior messaging around the need to accelerate the transport and energy sector’s transition to sustainability to address climate change.
In fact, during Trump’s prior administration, Musk was part of his “business council”, but he resigned after Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate agreement.
Musk has now made it clear that he believes the “woke mind virus” is a bigger threat to humanity than climate change.
The CEO even supported Trump when he said he plans to remove the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles once he is back in power. That’s despite Tesla having lobbied for the credit. The incentive has been supporting Tesla’s sales in the US over the last few years.
Musk even laid out a scenario where removing the tax credit would hurt Tesla, but he believes it would hurt other automakers more – removing some of the competition. That’s a direct contradiction to what Musk has said many times in the past, which is to encourage the entire auto industry to go electric.
Even more recently, the CEO has complained that the main problem with EV adoption is the cost being to high – something that the tax credit is directly addressing in the US.
Tesla now supports removing the tax credit
These days, it’s hard to separate Musk and Tesla. Even though he is technically only CEO and minority shareholder, it is widely believed that he controls the board, and, therefore, he is able to do anything unchecked at Tesla.
This is actually what led to the judge’s decision in his CEO compensation case earlier this year.
Now, Musk’s position on the tax credit that Tesla lobbied hard for is also Tesla’s position.
According to a new Reuters report, Trump’s transition team is reportedly already strategizing about how to remove the EV tax credit:
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The report states the energy transition team is led by Harold Hamm, an oil billionaire, but that they have consulted with Tesla, which is reportedly backing the move:
Ending the tax credit could have grave implications for an already stalling U.S. EV transition. And yet representatives of Tesla – by far the nation’s largest EV seller – have told a Trump-transition committee they support ending the subsidy, said the two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Trump administration would have to get Congress’s approval to remove the EV incentive.
Electrek’s Take
Like I wrote in my post about selling my Tesla position, the main reason I can’t be involved with Tesla anymore is that it is moving away from its mission.
There’s no better example than this.
Elon is willing to slow down the entire US EV industry as long as Tesla can come out on top in the next few years.
A source familiar with Tesla’s policy team suggested that it could be a negotiating strategy. Tesla may know it can’t save the tax credit so it is agreeing with Trump in order to have a bit more credibility on other matters, like the battery production credits that Tesla has been enjoying under Biden’s IRA.
But that could be a stretch, and in my opinion, it is not worth supporting something that will undoubtedly result in lower EV sales in the US, a country already way behind the rest of the world in EV adoption.
Also, it’s fair to note that this move should help Tesla in Q4 as the threat of removing the tax credit is resulted in surges in sales in the past to take advantage of it before it goes away.
It comes as Tesla is trying to achieve record sales in Q4 in order not to be down in deliveries for the entire year.
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Slate Auto, a new EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, has poached a key Tesla manufacturing leader to build its electric pickup truck factory in Indiana.
Napoleon Reyes is a US Marine from Indiana who got a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue after leaving the force.
He then worked a few years at Subaru and Wabash before joining Tesla’s manufacturing team at the Fremont Factory in 2020.
There, he became part of the Model Y production ramp and was quickly promoted to lead the Model Y General Assembly in Fremont in 2022.
Reyes led Model Y GA, one of the most critical parts of vehicle manufacturing, for more than a year before being promoted again to lead new pilot processes at the factory.
Most recently, he led the launch of the general assembly line for the Model Y refresh.
The new engineering manager announced this week that he is leaving Tesla to join Slate:
A bit late on the post but after nearly 5 years working at Tesla in Fremont, I made the difficult decision to leave the Company and move closer to home with my family. It was an incredible experience being part of multiple line expansions and multiple Model Y program launches. Leading and managing the Model Y Refresh launch for GA in Fremont this year tested me professionally however we ultimately succeeded due to our amazing cross functional team collaboration. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with such great people, and I will forever be proud and thankful for everything we accomplished together.
I will be taking on a new role as Senior Manager, Plant Vehicle Engineering at Slate Auto in Warsaw, In.
Slate emerged from stealth mode earlier this year to unveil a new type of electric pickup truck featuring modular customization and an affordable price.
The company raised over $700 million through two rounds of investments from several different investors, including Jeff Bezos. It is currently raising more, which basically guarantees that it will be able to reach production.
The startup acquired a former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana. It is currently converting to manufacture its electric pickup with a team from legacy automakers and also several former engineers and leaders from Tesla.
Rich Schmidt, an early Tesla manufacturing director, is the head of manufacturing.
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Genesis is preparing to shake things up with its most luxurious SUV yet, the GV90. Thanks to a new patent filing, we are getting a detailed look at how its Rolls-Royce-style coach doors will work.
New patent reveals Genesis GV90 coach door system
When Genesis first unveiled the full-size SUV at the NY Auto Show last March, it wasn’t the stunning design or advanced tech that caught everyone’s attention. It was the coach doors.
Although we were worried it wouldn’t make it to the production model, like many concepts, the Genesis GV90 will be offered with coach doors.
The ultra-luxe electric SUV was first caught with coach doors earlier this year on a car carrier in South Korea. Just last month, the GV90 was spotted in California with a hinge at the rear to open the coach doors.
After several new patents were filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for new door latching devices, we are getting a sneak peek at how they are expected to work.
The patents, titled “Cinching Device For Door Latches in Vehicle,” and “Door Latch Device for Vehicles,” give a pretty detailed explanation of how the Genesis GV90’s coach doors will operate. The “Door Latch Device” uses a door striker on the lower side of the door, which is opened or closed by a hinge unit.
Unlike traditional doors, which use the B-pillar for support, the device is attached directly to the door itself, allowing for hinge-like movement.
The cinching device works in a similar way. It’s also attached to the door and part of the vehicle. However, unlike most of its kind, Genesis found a way to use a single cinching device to control multiple units. Again, the device is used for B-pillarless doors that swing open.
Genesis already said that B-pillarless coach doors are now feasible in production vehicles. The patent reveals a glimpse into how the luxury automaker could make it a reality.
Although the Genesis GV90 is expected to be offered with coach doors, they will likely not be standard. Other variants, with traditional door handles, have also been spotted testing in the US and South Korea.
Genesis is expected to launch the GV90 in mid-2026. It will be built at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant in South Korea. The flagship Genesis SUV is scheduled to debut on Hyundai’s new eM platform, which the company said will “provide 50% improvement in driving range.” It will also be loaded with the latest technology, software, connectivity, and Level 3 or higher autonomous driving capabilities.
Source: USPTO
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Environment
Podcast: Tesla Model YL, more Tesla probes and lawsuits, new Nissan Leaf pricing, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the launch of the Tesla Model YL, more Tesla probes and lawsuits, new Nissan Leaf pricing, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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