The Biden Administration’s Focus On Sidelining Tesla Is Helping China
The Biden Administration’s focus on sidelining Tesla, in my opinion, is actually helping China and hurting America. Elon Musk recently said that the administration has done everything it could to sideline and ignore Tesla despite Tesla making twice as many EVs as the rest of the US industry combined.
The response comes to another response by Jon Favreau who voiced his thoughts about Elon Musk’s favor of voting Republican. Many people in the Tesla community are also upset with Elon’s new political stance, especially since the Republican party itself has been known to be anti-clean energy which is in direct opposition to Tesla and its mission.
On the flip side, the Democratic party has been taking actions that are also in direct opposition to Tesla and its mission, and personally, I think Elon is feeling a bit betrayed by the platform that he has supported — especially with the hard work of Tesla. However, this isn’t what this article is about.
Those actions that the Democratic party, as a platform and not individual people, have taken include ignoring Tesla’s contribution to the EV industry and market. Tesla vehicles are the best selling in the EV segment — globally.
Where Does China Fit In?
On April 20, 2022, President Biden said that the US needed to ramp up production of electric vehicles to catch up and then surpass China following a tour of an electric bus and battery manufacturing plant. During the tour he said,
“We have a lot of catching up to do but we’re going to be in a position where we ought to own the future. We ought to be the single most significant suppliers of electric buses and vehicles in the world before it’s over. Right now, we’re running way behind China.”
I agree with President Biden’s words here. He’s right. It’s the actions of sidelining and ignoring Tesla that his administration has taken that I disagree with. I’ve written about this on and off since last year when President Biden excluded Tesla from an event in August.
This event was a meeting between Biden and EV executives from General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. The goal of the event was to focus on the proposed revisions to fuel economy requirements through the 2026 model year. Tesla was pointedly excluded.
Ignoring & Sidelining Tesla
That article received a response from Elon Musk and later, a reply from the White House when someone asked why Tesla was excluded. The answer was that Tesla doesn’t have a union and that this was more of a United Auto Workers event than an EV event.
The answer showed that it was more politically focused than EV-focused. And this administration’s actions toward Tesla and Elon Musk show, at least to me, that Tesla’s leadership isn’t welcome nor wanted. And this is why China and even Europe will continue to dominate EV sales compared with the US.
The Biden administration had the perfect opportunity to work with not just a company focused on the same things that his administration seemingly wanted for our nation, but a company that is a leader in the industry. The Biden administration could have had an ally with Elon Musk and Tesla. It said, no thanks.
The Biden administration chose to alienate Tesla, the global leader of the EV industry, in favor of unions and politics. And Elon Musk, who is very outspoken and quick to stand up for himself, spoke out.
The nonstop attacks from politicians such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and others have influenced their voter bases that Elon Musk and Tesla are bad for America.
I don’t blame Elon Musk for whatever personal decisions he is making. However, I do hope that he can bring some green to the Republican party. Perhaps his influence and advice will be more welcome among Republicans who are anti-clean energy. And perhaps some good can come out of that.
Whether or not you like Elon Musk isn’t the issue here. The issue is that the current administration doesn’t seem to value the hard work Tesla, an American company, has done for electrification and promoting sustainability. By ignoring and sidelining Tesla, the administration is hurting itself in terms of EV goals. And it’s hurting America.
I mean, it took a petition for President Biden and his administration to actually say the word, Tesla.
Politicians and their power games hurting America — what else is new?
