How Musk's Trump support might change future of electric cars in America

Political shifts in Washington could reshape electric vehicle market after **Elon Musk** backed Trump. New policies and international trade relations might affect car makers more than expected

October 31 2024 , 10:11 AM  •  1138 views

How Musk's Trump support might change future of electric cars in America

Elon Muskʼs support for Trump changed everything in electric car world. Traditional party lines got mixed up - Democrats used to be only EV fans but now its different (a recent poll showed 71% of Republicans dont want EVs while most Democrats do)

Trump changed his mind about electric cars after getting Muskʼs backing: “Iʼm for electric cars. I have to be‚ because Elon endorsed me very strongly“ [[Trump stated]]. This is way different from his old views where he wanted to stop the $7‚500 tax breaks for new EVs

Tesla got lots of help from government - about $2.8-billion in different support since 08ʼ and made nearly $9-billion selling carbon credits to other car-makers. Right now they control half the US market while GM and Ford have less than 10% each; but removing help from government could hurt sales

The effects of stopping help are clear in Germany where they cut support last winter: sales went down big-time this summer

  • Detroit car-makers got $100-million for small parts makers
  • New $2-billion program helps old car places switch to EVs
  • Support will last till 31ʼ

Government rules about clean cars might change too - this could slow down EV growth. Musk might get a big role in Trumps team which is weird since his companies are being looked at by many government departments

Chinese company BYD is selling more cars than Tesla now; theres a 100% tax on Chinese EVs coming to US. Trade problems could get bigger - EU might fight back if Trump puts his 20% tax on everything. This could make it hard for Tesla to sell cars in Europe where they have a big factory

All this means Muskʼs support for Trump might not help Tesla as much as people think. Even though SpaceX and Starlink work with government a lot changes in EV rules could slow down the switch to electric cars