Elon Musk Defends Support of VP Candidate Opposing Tesla’s $7,500 EV Tax Incentive

The saying is indeed true: politics does make some strange bedfellows. However, since this is an automotive news outlet, let’s focus on the implications of current political events on the automotive world.

Before we come to the main story and discuss Elon Musk’s comments, here's a small rundown on the political front.

Yesterday, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump picked Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate. If this ticket wins, JD Vance will serve as the next vice president of the United States.

Musk expressed his support for the Trump/Vance presidential run when this news broke, writing, “Trump/Vance Resounds with victory.” Musk also added, " Congratulations to JD Vance, excellent decision by Donal Trump.”

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TRUMP
VANCE
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Resounds with victory
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2024

Congratulations @JDVance1!

Excellent decision by @realDonaldTrump.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2024

Following former US President Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on Saturday, Elon Musk also revealed that he fully endorses Donald Trump to become the next US president.

This is everything on the political front; now, let’s get back to why Elon Musk’s resounding support for the Trump/Vance ticket, especially the choice of JD Vance as vice president, has raised some eyebrows.

As part of his legislative work in the US Senate, JD Vance has introduced a bill that will end the current $7,500 tax incentive for electric vehicles and replace it with a gas car incentive for made-in-the-USA internal combustion vehicles.

JD Vance presents his legislation as a way to stop the oncoming flood of Chinese-made EVs and support US manufacturing.

However, anyone who has even slightly followed up on the current EV tax credit knows that only vehicles built in North America can qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax incentive.

Not only that, the current EV tax break highly penalizes not only Chinese-made EVs but also batteries and even sourcing raw materials for EVs from China.

This is why the Standard Range Tesla Model 3, which uses Chinese-made batteries and has a 272-mile range, starts at $39,000, whereas the Long Range Model 3, which uses US-made batteries and has a 363-mile range, starts at $35,000 after applying the $7,500 EV tax break.

The $7,500 EV tax break is so detrimental to the Chinese EV makers that China has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization to stop the federal EV tax break.

Despite this, JD Vance represents the current EV tax break, designed to give US-based EV makers an advantage against their Chinse competitors, as the exact opposite of what the tax incentive is accomplishing on the ground.

At the same time, JD misrepresents his proposed gas car incentive as stopping Chinese EVs. If the US forgoes an EV tax break for an internal combustion vehicle incentive, it will hurt American jobs as most US EV manufacturers can not compete with the highly motivated and subsidized Chinese EV makers.

This is not to “expose” JD Vance or anything; most, if not all, politicians bend the truth; there is nothing ground-breaking here. 

However, by framing the EV tax incentive as an endorsement by the Biden administration for Chinese-made EVs and introducing a tax incentive for internal combustion vehicles made in the US, JD Vance has been able to come across as a supporter of American manufacturing.

JD’s posturing on this front and his reputation as a supporter of auto manufacturing, which especially affects the battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, might have been vital for his current VP nomination.

Going back to Elon Musk, politicians say whatever they have to say to gain power. However, given that Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla, the largest EV maker in the world with supply chains in the US, China, and all over the world, Elon Musk is not fooled by JD’s words about the EV tax incentive.

However, despite this fact, Elon Musk has fully endorsed JD Vance as Trump’s VP pick. Naturally, this leads to questions about Musk’s motivation, and fortunately, the Tesla CEO has addressed the issue head-on.

Jafpro on X wrote, “Musk is supporting people who want to take away Tesla's subsidies and give them to gas cars instead.” Other Tesla commentators have even claimed that Musk is breaking his fiduciary duty to Tesla investors by supporting a VP pick who will eliminate the $7,500 EV tax incentive afforded to almost all Tesla vehicle variants.

Musk addressed the issue in response, writing, “Take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla. Also, remove subsidies from all industries!”

Take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla.

Also, remove subsidies from all industries!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024

Musk’s words echo his long-held belief that the current EV tax incentives are designed to help legacy automakers and union jobs rather than to grow the electric vehicle industry.

Having said that, Musk appears to have stopped short of completely endorsing JD Vance’s gas car subsidies, calling for the end of all subsidies from all industries.

Elon Musk has repeatedly expressed his belief that various governments worldwide subsidize fossil fuels to the tune of trillions of dollars.

So why did Elon Musk endorse JD Vance’s selection as the next vice president? This most likely has to do with the Biden administration’s and the left’s multiple attacks on the Tesla CEO.

One egregious example that comes to mind is President Joe Biden excluding Elon Musk from an EV summit held in the White House while praising General Motors CEO Mary Barra for leading the transition to electric vehicles.

This statement by President Biden is also patently false. Ironically, Biden congratulated Mary for leading the transition to EVs in the same quarter GM produced only 26 electric vehicles for sale in the whole of the United States.

For the people reading this article and thinking of attacking Senator JD Vance for his untruthful statements about electric cars, I hope they also remember President Biden’s similarly misleading statement about EVs.

Overall, the current political landscape has been confusing, and we will be sure to keep you posted on its effects on the automotive world. Until then, make sure to visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.

So, what do you think? Are you surprised to see Elon Musk endorsing a candidate who wants to eliminate the EV tax incentive & institute an internal combustion vehicle tax credit? Do you think Musk’s action violates his fiduciary responsibility to Tesla investors? Let us know your thoughts in the comments by clicking the red “Add new comment” button below.

Image: Screenshot from Elon Musk’s TED interview & CBS News RNC Coverage on YouTube

For more information, check out: Thousands of Tesla Investors Sign On to Protect Elon Musk as Musk Shares Two Gunmen Had Already Come for His Life

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.