Elon Musk Confirms Tesla Was Not Invited to the White House Electric Vehicle Event
Electric vehicles have been in the news lately, especially after this week’s press conference at the White House. However, there was one major company missing from the EV event. Elon Musk confirmed on Twitter that Tesla was not invited to the event. While Ford was a large part of the press conference, why wasn’t Tesla invited?
Why wasn’t Tesla invited to the White House electric vehicle event?
This week, President Biden invited people to a White House electric vehicle event that made quite a splash. Biden set a goal of having electric vehicles make up 50% of cars on the road by 2030. In a press release by Ford, the company confirmed a commitment to the same goal.
“We believe that making great vehicles for our customers, protecting the planet and maintaining a strong business are complementary goals. That’s why we’ve committed to investing more than $30 billion in vehicle electrification through 2025, and previously said that we’re planning on at least 40% of our global sales volume being EVs by 2040.”
Ford
While Ford is making great strides toward EV manufacturing, Tesla was notably missing from the White House electric vehicle event. Since Tesla only makes electric vehicles and doesn’t offer gasoline-powered cars, this seems like a misstep. Oddly enough, Jeep was there Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe.
Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla was snubbed from the White House electric vehicle event
The White House electric vehicle event focused on electric vehicles, which Tesla is relatively knowledgeable about. If Biden was hoping to educate the public on EVs and the process of creating an EV, wouldn’t Tesla be an excellent company to feature? Or, at the very least, an excellent company to have at the event?
Ford and Jeep were at the event, but these companies primarily focus on ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. Ford and Jeep might be moving toward electric vehicle production, but Tesla has excelled at it for years now. Tesla doesn’t even make ICE vehicles.
It seems while the event was focused on EV publicity, the publicity was focused on those who would benefit more from the new incentives. This appears to be the big three: GM, Ford, and Chrysler Fiat / Stellantis.
The reason behind the lack of invite isn’t clear
Tesla is no longer eligible for the federal tax credit from the government. The deal was for 200,000 vehicles, which Tesla surpassed many years ago. Biden is pressing the switch to EVs, but snubs the only all-electric manufacturer out there? Ford, GM, and Jeep might be working on it, but Tesla already did it. Ford makes the Mustang Mach-E in Mexico, which makes even less sense.
According to Cars.com, the Tesla Model 3 is the number one car in America this year that is made in America. The Ford Mustang is second, but the Tesla Model Y is third on the same list.
One could argue that the focus of the White House electric vehicle event was getting brands to switch to electric vehicles. Since Tesla would not be switching to electric vehicles, there was no need to have the brand there? But if nothing else, Tesla is a successful American company that produces electric vehicles. That alone seems like reason enough to invite the company to an electric vehicle event. Better luck next time, Musk.
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