Elon Musk Criticizes Biden’s Electric Vehicle Tax Incentive

Tesla head Elon Musk talks to the press near Berlin on Sept. 3, 2020. Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday criticized the Biden administration’s proposal to give union-made, U.S.-built electric vehicles (EVs) a $12,500 tax incentive under the Build Back Better Agenda.

“Honestly, I would just can this whole bill,” Musk said during a virtual appearance at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit.

The White House has set a goal for electric vehicles, including battery, plug-in hybrid, or fuel cell electric vehicles, to make up 50 percent of all new car sales by the end of 2030 as part of its Build Back Better Agenda.

The move hopes to kick start the development of long-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards, boost public health, save consumers money, and cut pollution as part of Biden’s efforts toward tackling the climate crisis.

Under the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act—which was passed by the House last month—electric vehicles that are made in America with American materials and union labor will see their costs lowered by up to $12,500 per vehicle in an effort to increase consumer demand in electric vehicles. Tesla and foreign automakers do not have unions at their U.S. factories.

The Senate has yet to vote on the measure.

Meanwhile, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Biden signed into law in November includes $7.5 billion to jump start the president’s goal of having 500,000 EV charging stations nationwide by 2030.

Speaking from a Tesla factory in the Austin, Texas, area on Monday, Musk said he believes the proposal would ultimately worsen the country’s budget deficit.

“Do we need support for gas stations? We don’t,” he said. “Delete it.”

The Tesla CEO also added that he proposes “getting rid of all subsidies,” and that the government should “just try to get out of the way and not impede progress,” Reuters reported.

Elsewhere on Monday, Musk also doubled down on his opposition to a proposal by Democrats to tax those making a billion dollars or more in annual income or $100 million or more for three consecutive years.

“It does not make sense to take the job of capital allocation away from people who have demonstrated great skill ... and give it to, you know, an entity that has demonstrated very poor skill in capital allocation, which is the government,” Musk said.

Musk’s comments come shortly after Tesla officially moved its headquarters to Austin from Palo Alto, California, with a Dec. 1 regulatory filing making the move official.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has a no-mandate policy in the state, this week said he believes that President Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandates have driven new businesses to relocate their headquarters there, stating that, “over just the first 11 months of this year, there have been 70 businesses and corporations that have relocated their headquarters to the state of Texas.”