Tesla CEO Elon Musk gestures during the Model 3 Delivery Ceremony made by Tesla China in Shanghai.
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Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has said he opposes President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending bill, pointing out that he’s concerned about the “crazy” federal deficit.
“Honestly, I just can’t get this entire bill,” Musk said late Monday in Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit. “Don’t pass it by, that’s my recommendation.”
The Building Better Again Act, which passed the House but has yet to make it to the Senate, includes tax incentives of up to $12,500 for vehicles built by auto union members to boost consumer demand for electric vehicles. The Biden administration’s efforts will restore a $7,500 federal credit to Tesla, which has no auto union workers, once again giving Tesla the same credit that many automakers have. Other automakers are still eligible. But Tesla worked no standard $7,500 for almost two years now and is doing well, Musk said.
The Better Rebuild Act follows Biden’s infrastructure bill, which was signed into law last month. It includes $7.5 billion to build the nation’s electric vehicle charging stations. Musk also said Monday that government funding for electric vehicle charging is unnecessary.
“Do we need support for gas stations? We don’t,” Musk said. “So there’s no need for support for a charging grid. I’m going to remove it. I’m literally saying get rid of all subsidies, including oil and gas.”
Musk said the government should act more like a sports referee than a player on the field. However, he acknowledged that American cities need better airports and highways, and that the self-driving cars that Tesla is trying to develop but are yet to deliver, have the potential to cause traffic congestion future highways.
“As autonomous vehicles come first and driving becomes easier without the hassle of having to drive,” Musk said.
He’s not a fan of “flying cars,” which he describes as helicopters with wheels. “People don’t want the sky to be filled with helicopters,” Musk said.
Instead, Musk’s vision was to create a combination of two-story highways and tunnels to make room for freer traffic on the ground. One of Musk’s startups, The Boring Company, builds the tunnels, while Tesla provides electric cars that carry passengers through them.
Researchers have continuously observed the need to cause that shows increasing and unrelenting traffic where new highway lanes are built, but Musk doesn’t address the issue.
Later in the discussion, Musk said he is not a “radical libertarian” who is against all government spending. He considers space and science programs, like sending a probe to Mars, as legitimate federal endeavors.
“The value of that is a small amount of value to all citizens, but it wouldn’t be efficient to go and collect $10 from each citizen for a Mars probe. So it’s better to let it go. the government does something like a heavy science program, rather than he said.
– Lora Kolodny of CNBC contributed reporting.
