Trump seeks Elon Musk's favor and shows a softer stance on electric vehicles

The Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump today surprisingly moderated his previously harsh rejection of electric vehicles. The reason for this change is the sought-after support from Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla. Trump, who is generally known for his transaction-oriented politics, has so far pursued an economic agenda strongly based on fossil fuels, thereby fueling climate change. This stands in clear contradiction to Tesla's mission to accelerate the global energy transition to sustainable solutions. Speaking to supporters in Atlanta, Trump stated that electric vehicles are not so bad and could make up a small portion of the US car market if he were to return to the White House. "I am for electric cars because Elon Musk has strongly supported me. Therefore, I have no choice," he said in a widely circulated statement that was shared by Musk's supporters and blogs like Teslarati. Just last month, the former New York real estate mogul announced that he would rescind the subsidies for electric vehicles introduced by President Biden as a first step of a second Trump administration, calling them a "green new scam." In an interview with Maria Bartiromo, Trump also stated that all future electric cars would be manufactured in China, as the US does not possess the mineral resources of its rival, which is a global leader in battery lithium processing. "They have limited range and cost too much," he said, adding that while he likes Tesla, the company is nonetheless limited. Trump's vice-presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, has meanwhile proposed the "Drive American Act," which would eliminate Biden's federal tax credits for electric vehicles of $7,500 and instead transfer them to vehicles with conventional combustion engines. This has forced Musk to point out that Trump's hostility towards electric vehicles would hurt his competitors more than Tesla itself. Tesla sells about as many electric vehicles in the US as all other competitors combined. Along with China's BYD, Tesla is one of the only two manufacturers globally that produce electric vehicles profitably on a large scale. However, Musk's increasingly right-wing political stance since taking over Twitter at the end of October 2022 has divided the Tesla community into two camps – those who support the mission to abolish fossil fuels and tech enthusiasts who primarily follow Musk. Both anecdotal and empirical evidence shows this has led to a small but growing number of customers abandoning the brand in favor of competitors like Rivian, especially in Tesla's stronghold of California. Musk's engagement with fringe parties, such as Germany's AfD, which is monitored by the constitutional protection agency, has weakened support for Tesla in a market that has a multitude of EV alternatives. On Monday, registration data for Germany, the United Kingdom, and France – the three largest EV markets in Europe – revealed that Tesla sales in the first seven months declined by 41%, 13%, and 28% respectively compared to the same period last year. In contrast, EV sales on the continent rose by 1.6% in the first half of this year, indicating that all other brands have dramatically outperformed Tesla.