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Tesla and its customers enjoy a fair bit of subsidies. According to the LA Times that number is around $5bn. Trump has stated he wants to cut these types of sub
by drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Tesla and its customers enjoy a fair bit of subsidies. According to the LA Times that number is around $5bn. Trump has stated he wants to cut these types of subsidies and others for renewables as part of his belief that climate change is a "Chinese hoax." I think Elon has a right to worry here as his products are probably too expensive without these subsidies. Even the Model 3 is pricey without that $7,500 tax break. Probably bad news for the Lead and Bolt as well.
- mikeash 10y agoThe Model 3 is going to blow through those subsidies within a year of shipping. They're only available for a limited number of cars, then they go away. Tesla clearly thinks that they're viable without the tax credit.
- yessql 10y agoYes, this is important. Tesla could blow through all of the credits in 2018. Tesla could technically benefit from the EV tax credit being cancelled after that, since its products would no longer qualify, but the other OEMs that have sat on the sidelines waiting for cheaper batteries would not be able to jump in and take advantage of having a subsidy available to them, but not to Tesla, Nissan, and GM that would have used up their credits. The design of the EV tax credit is really bad.
- mikeash 10y agoThe benefit to competitors would be limited, since as soon as they created a product that sold in high volumes, they'd use up their subsidy too.
- caseysoftware 10y agoIsn't getting rid of corporate welfare a good thing?
- kd0amg 10y agoDepends... are we talking about eliminating subsidies for transactions with positive externalities, or are we talking about undoing some regulatory capture?