Electrek.co

Elon Musk and Tesla fans ramp up pressure for recognition from Biden with ad and 50,000 petition signatures

by Fred Lambert

Elon Musk and Tesla fans are ramping up the pressure to get recognition from President Biden, who has had a clear problem acknowledging that Tesla is leading the electrification of the auto industry in the United States.

Almost 50,000 Tesla supporters have signed a petition, and someone has even bought an ad about it on Times Square.

The tension between the Biden administration and Musk and his fans has been growing for months now.

The first major blow seems to have been the ceremony where President Biden signed a new executive order for 50% of new cars sold in the United States to be electric by 2030.

Tesla wasn’t invited, and both Musk and many Tesla fans took offense.

However, the event was about the US automakers, like Ford and GM, committing to go 50% electric by 2030. Tesla is already all electric.

But then the Biden administration, influenced by the United Auto Worker union, pushed for reform of the electric vehicle tax credit to include an additional $4,500 credit per electric vehicle produced at a unionized factory.

Some Tesla fans saw this as an attack on Tesla since the company is the biggest US producer of electric vehicles, and its workforce is not unionized. Musk later called out Biden for “being controlled by unions.”

See Elon Musk's tweets to President Biden and read Electrek's take at Electrek.co.