Maybe Musk Missed The Memo: Trump's Plan To Ban Autonomous Vehicles Could Sour Friendship

Thursday, Oct. 10 may go down as a big day for autonomous vehicles with Tesla Inc TSLA unveiling the highly anticipated Cybercab.

The date could also go down in the sector’s history, as the day former President Donald Trump promised to keep self-driving vehicles off of roads.

What Happened: Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club Thursday, Trump used the appearance to take on the automotive sector in a pitch to revolutionize the sector with changes.

Trump promised to put new restrictions on Chinese vehicles, have stricter rules on automotive trade rules with Mexico and Canada and increase tariffs on vehicles coming from other nations.

"It's my goal to get our country on an automaking path that at some point in the near future it will be bigger and more important than it ever was," Trump said.

During the speech, Trump also took on autonomous vehicles.

“Do you like autonomous? Does anybody like an autonomous vehicle? Know what that is? Right? When you see a car driving along? Some people do, I don’t know. A little concerning to me, but the autonomous vehicles we’re going to stop from operating on American roads," Trump said.

The comments from Trump came hours before his friend and Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Cybercab to the world for the first time at the company's highly anticipated Robotaxi Day event.

Some Tesla investors and analysts are worried about the timing of the Cybercab rollout, especially with the need for state-by-state approval of autonomous vehicles. Meanwhile, a potential future U.S. president has suggested banning self-driving cars nationwide.

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Why It's Important: Trump has had a largely antagonistic stance toward electric vehicles, often criticizing the vehicles and in some cases blaming them for destroying bridges and American infrastructure.

Despite a negative attitude towards electric vehicles, Musk has publicly endorsed Trump for president in the 2024 election and has campaigned for the former president.

Musk supports Trump's comments that removing credits for American consumers to switch to electric vehicles would negatively impact the company but much more negatively impact Tesla's competitors.

The Tesla CEO also likely supports Trump's stance on making it harder for Chinese automakers to compete for electric vehicle market share in the United States.

Musk's support for Trump has raised concerns about the impact on the electric vehicle sector’s growth, especially as the former president continues to make critical comments that could hinder progress.

Trump's latest comments on autonomous vehicles could go against what Musk sees as one of the highest growth opportunities for Tesla in the years to come. A recent Consumer Reports survey found that many Americans who have not experienced self-driving vehicles aren't likely to trust the technology.

With Trump now threatening to ban the vehicles from hitting the road, Musk and Tesla’s future could get harder if the man he supports and is actively trying to get back into the White House wins the 2024 election.

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