With the arrival of President Joe Biden to the White House, electric mobility in the United States has gained new momentum. Currently, it is being discussed, at the proposal of the Democratic Party, if a grant of $4,500 is granted at the federal level for the purchase of an electric car. The only requirement is that the car leaves a factory in which there is a union.
And that condition means that Tesla models would therefore be left out of the equation since Elon Musk is blatantly anti-union and there are no unions in Tesla factories. Logically, he did not like that measure.
Elon Musk complained on Twitter, alluding to lobbyists from Ford and the industry union, the United Auto Workers (UAW). “This is written by the Ford / UAW lobbyists as they manufacture their electric car in Mexico. It is not obvious how this serves US taxpayers,” the Tesla billionaire tweeted.
Under free trade agreements, this aid would apply to any car made in Mexico, the United States, or Canada. And therefore, the Ford Mustang Mach-E would be one of the beneficiaries.
The reality is that such a move would favor all American brands except Tesla. But the Californian brand would not be the only one harmed. Toyota and Honda, whose factories in the United States do not have unions, would also be excluded from that aid. In fact, Toyota has also criticized that measure .
The possibility of a Tesla Model 3 under $25,000 fades
But that does not mean that they cannot benefit from aid. The bill also provides a consumer incentive of $ 7,500 for the purchase of a new electric car sold in the United States, regardless of its geographic location of manufacture or whether or not there is a union in that factory.
Tesla, like any other manufacturer, be it Nissan or BMW, for example, could apply that measure to its cars. Although that measure would be in force for only five years.
The problem for Tesla is that it sees how it could lose a total discount on the price of its cars of $ 12,000 on account of the taxpayer (it is a federal incentive). A discount that Ford or General Motors would have.
Thus, the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 could cost an American motorist $ 23,000 if Tesla customers could qualify for $4,500 and not just $7,500.