Musk says Tesla will be less affected by potential Trump EV policy

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday that while U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's potential removal of support for electric vehicles would harm other automakers significantly, it would have a lesser impact on Tesla.

During a post-earnings conference call, Musk noted that while Tesla might experience some short-term impacts, the long-term effects could be beneficial for the company.

Former President Trump, who is running for office again with Musk's support, has criticized the Biden administration's EV policies and vowed to end the EV mandate if elected. However, he has not provided detailed plans for this policy change.

Musk emphasized that Tesla's primary value lies in its autonomy and self-driving technology, suggesting that the potential removal of subsidies is relatively insignificant compared to Tesla's focus on AI and autonomy.

"The value of Tesla overwhelmingly is autonomy. These other things are in the noise relative to autonomy," he said.

Musk recently endorsed Trump following an assassination attempt on the candidate. He denied reports of pledging $45 million per month to Trump's campaign, but confirmed setting up a political action committee.

This endorsement has caused some confusion among Tesla enthusiasts, who questioned how Trump's election would benefit the EV company. Last year, Trump's vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, proposed a bill to eliminate EV subsidies and promote gas-powered vehicles, though it is unlikely to pass in the current Congress.

In a recent post on X, Musk also suggested the removal of all industry subsidies, including those for electric vehicles, claiming it would ultimately benefit Tesla.

Last week, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump announced plans to impose tariffs of 100 to 200 percent on cars made in Mexico to make them "unsellable" in the U.S.

(With input from Reuters)