I see it suggested that Elon Musk’s apparent disapproval of Trump’s budget (the Big Beautiful Bill — ugh, FFS) may stem from the fact that included in the suggested budget cuts are federal subsidies for EV purchases.
If this is the case, then Musk’s ire may be understandable… but not excusable.
Sorry, dude: the whole climate-change-is-gonna-kill-us-therefore-we-must-all-buy-EVs bullshit is one of the more egregious examples of governmental waste and budgetary irresponsibility. You’ve ridden the gravy train because if Gummint is going to throw money your way then why not take it — say your shareholders — but that time is over, so suck it up and spend more time on other pursuits, those which don’t rely on government subsidies to survive or turn a profit.
Like I said, I don’t know if this is the reason for Elon’s peevishness, but if it is, then it’s just silly. The gravy train was bound to end sooner or later, and from a taxpayer’s perspective, sooner is better, although said taxpayers who were going to buy a Tesla may not see it the same way, of course.
Too bad.
I believe the disagreement between Musk and Trump is made up to throw raw meet at the jackals of the media. Musk must have seen subsidies for glorified golf carts in its death spiral after Trump got elected.
The whole Musk/POTUS hassle is just too artificial for belief. Musk has known for weeks that the EV support had gone in the hopper.
In a while there’ll be a real story emerging, maybe. I like the idea of Musk drawing off all the environuts to a new party, where they can be identified and eliminated.
.
TV Wrestling drama…
Or that other TV morality play from the fifties and sixties, Roller Derby.
Musk has to have known that the EV market was a niche market from the get go !
He’s too intelligent to have NOT known that. There are far to many indicators, starting with the lack of, by a long shot, grid capacity to support massive EV usage ! That one factor alone tells you the you are NEVER going to be a Ford or a GM producing 10 of thousands of cars annually. Not going to happen.
I agree, the Musk/Trump tussle is strictly for the consumption of the hand wringers
and floor pacers who either won’t or can’t ‘read between the lines’ !!
Musk has publicly advocated ending the EV subsidy so that is probably not the reason.
https://www.investopedia.com/why-does-elon-musk-support-ending-ev-tax-credits-two-reasons-8747418
The way this brouhaha suddenly popped up and the outrageous things being said make me wonder if it isn’t just kayfabe.
he was all about ending the subsidies but NOT the mandate.
So reduce government spending on EV subsidies (so the money could go towards subsidies for his own companies of course) while at the same time maintaining his sales figures.
That’s how lobbyists operate, and that’s basically was Musk was, the resident lobbyist in the white house.