U.S. Congressman warns against Tesla exclusion from CA’s proposed EV incentive

Recent reports have revealed that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pondering the creation of a new EV incentive for car buyers in the state if President-elect Donald Trump eliminates the federal tax credit for electric cars. There was only one caveat—the CA governor’s proposal excludes Tesla. 

This means that despite Tesla being the only carmaker that produces its vehicles in California and despite the company employing thousands of residents from the state, the company’s vehicles may be among the only ones that will not receive an incentive under the proposed program. This would create quite a strange scenario, considering that both the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are performing very well in California.

Elon Musk, in a post on X, criticized the California governor’s proposal. “Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,” Musk wrote. In a later post, Musk also noted that “Tesla is the only one making cars in California, so this move hurts jobs in California.”

Tesla makes over 550,000 vehicles in Fremont in my district & employs over 20,000. Let’s not play politics with keeping manufacturing in California. It would be foolish to exclude Tesla. Have we learned nothing from snubbing @elonmusk at the Biden EV summit? https://t.co/I0Jzx51eP7

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) November 26, 2024

Musk’s sentiments were echoed by Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who noted on X that it would be downright foolish to intentionally exclude Tesla from a potential CA EV incentive. He also noted that the Democratic Party should learn its lessons from the past, considering that the Biden administration’s decision to exclude Tesla from its EV summit in 2021 ended up being one of its most notable missteps.

“Tesla makes over 550,000 vehicles in Fremont in my district & employs over 20,000. Let’s not play politics with keeping manufacturing in California. It would be foolish to exclude Tesla. Have we learned nothing from snubbing Elon Musk at the Biden EV summit?” the Congressman wrote in a post.

Gov. Newsom’s office, asked about reaction from @elonmusk‘s and Rep. Khanna, said: “We’ll let today’s announcement speak for itself.”

That announcement says the rebates would have “changes to promote innovation and competition in the ZEV market”https://t.co/mwDGcdHYPd https://t.co/2LXfbMnG3R

— kcranews (@kcranews) November 26, 2024

When asked for a comment about Khanna’s concerns by KCRA 3, a spokesperson from the CA governor’s office noted that “We’ll let today’s announcement speak for itself.” The announcement claims that the new proposed CA EV rebate will “include changes to promote innovation and competition in the ZEV market.”

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