On Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that if U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump were to remove support for electric vehicles, it would hurt other carmakers more than Tesla. Musk explained, “It would be devastating for our competitors, and it would hurt Tesla slightly but long term probably actually helps Tesla would be my guess,” following Tesla’s report of its lowest profit margin in over five years.
Trump, who is supported by Musk, has criticized the Biden administration’s EV policies and has said he would “end the electric vehicle mandate” if he wins. However, Trump has not provided details on this plan.
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Musk emphasized that the impact on Tesla from losing subsidies is not critical because Tesla’s main focus is on self-driving technology. “The value of Tesla overwhelmingly is autonomy. These other things are in the noise relative to autonomy,” he said.
Musk also denied a report claiming he pledged $45 million per month to Trump but confirmed he created a political action committee. His support for Trump has raised questions among Tesla fans about how it would benefit the company.
Last year, JD Vance, Trump’s vice-presidential pick, introduced a bill to eliminate EV subsidies and promote gas-powered vehicles, though it is unlikely to pass in Congress. Musk said on X last week, “Take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla. Also, remove subsidies from all industries!”
Trump has proposed imposing 100% to 200% tariffs on cars made in Mexico to make them “unsellable” in the U.S. Musk noted that Tesla has paused plans for a factory in Mexico and will reconsider investing there after the election. “Trump has said that he will put heavy tariffs on vehicles produced in Mexico so it doesn’t make sense to invest in Mexico,” he said.
Musk added that Tesla is expanding its existing factories and plans to produce robotaxis at its Texas factory.
