Elon Musk argued at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO conference on Monday that the US doesn’t need the Biden administration’s infrastructure package — or any government subsidies for that matter. He responded, “Just erase them all.”
During the conversation, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, expressed worry about the government debt. “We’ve spent so much money,” he remarked, “that the federal budget imbalance is crazy.”
“I’d advise… pay the entire bill.” “My suggestion is to not pass it,” Musk stated.
Musk pointed out that Tesla has been selling its electric cars in the United States without the $7,500 federal tax credit for more than a year without seeing a drop in demand. Except for General Motors, most other automakers are still qualified for the credit.
Biden’s infrastructure proposal now contains a provision to prolong that credit and add another incentive for electric vehicles built by union workers, though it still has to pass the Senate. In recent months, Musk has slammed union-focused credit and referred to Biden as a “puppet” of the United Auto Workers.
Musk also stated that the US government should not be providing subsidies to increase charging infrastructure, despite the fact that such a provision is included in the infrastructure package that Biden has already signed into law.
“Do we require assistance with fueling stations?” We don’t have any. As a result, there’s no need for this,” Musk explained.
Tesla presently has around 3,000 charging stations and 30,000 connections throughout the world, but it aims to expand its network to include other electric vehicles in the near future.
Over the years, Musk’s enterprises have benefited from a variety of federal and state subsidies, and the government is a key SpaceX customer (though SpaceX won much of that business by dramatically undercutting the prices of established players). Tesla has also had a lot of success in China, thanks to a lot of aid from the Chinese government. Tesla “did not foresee any subsidies” when it was in its early years, Musk said on Monday.
