Elon Musk-Led Tesla Benefits From EV Subsidies, Was Hurt By Trump, Former Exec Says: 'To Argue Trump Was Anything But A Disaster … Is Historical Fiction'

A former Tesla Inc TSLA executive is pushing back against the notion that subsidies didn't help the electric vehicle company.

What Happened: With Elon Musk becoming more involved in the 2024 election with his endorsement of Donald Trump, the potential of Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris winning the 2024 election is weighing on the mind of Tesla investors and analysts.

Trump has been negative about Tesla and the electric vehicle sector in the past, but recent comments show a shift with positive comments on Tesla and Musk.

Some investors see Trump winning the election being bad for Tesla and the EV sector with the potential of the popular $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of many electric vehicles disappearing.

"If you ask anyone in the sales department at Tesla whether they want the $7,500 consumer incentive they will say… ‘obviously,'" former Tesla executive Rohan Patel said in a response on social media platform X.

The response was to @wholemarsblog, an account popular for information on Tesla and things related to Musk.

"During the Trump admin[istration], there was an active effort to undermine pretty much every substantive policy that helped Tesla's energy and vehicle and charging business."

Patel, who previously served as the vice president of Tesla Policy, said the X user was "pushing out misinformation" by saying Republicans never tried to destroy Tesla.

"I have many differences with Biden from a rhetorical and substantive perspective. Many. But to argue Trump was anything but a disaster for Tesla on virtually anything of commercial significance is historical fiction."

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Why It's Important: Patel said the last quarter saw $890 million in global vehicle regulatory credits.

"Try repeating last quarter's earnings call by subtracting that $890M in credit revenue and you can start to understand how important those policies have been to Tesla," Patel said. "Trump, his legacy auto and auto dealers friends, and the oil/gas industry have been trying to weaken or kill these standards for decades."

The latest comments come after Patel said recently that Harris winning the election would be better for Tesla's long-term success. Patel did caution Harris could be negative for the company's autonomous vehicle ambitions.

"I'd normally trust reasonable (non-Trump) Republicans a bit more not to create a heavy-handed AV approach. Sadly, Trump is such a nutcase and usually doesn't appoint the best people, so I'd probably still trust Kamala more even on the issues where I'd generally prefer a Republican."

Musk has argued that removing electric vehicle subsidies would be bad for the electric vehicle industry, but would have a minimal impact on Tesla while it devastates the company's competition.

“Take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla. Also, remove subsidies from all industries!” said Musk on X.

The 2024 election could have a large impact on the future of electric vehicles and Tesla. A win by Trump could mean the removal of subsidies and could also see the already busy Musk have more work on his plate with a cabinet position or another government role from Trump.

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