© Reuters. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his security team leave the company’s local office in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
By Nandita Bose, David Shepardson and Raphael Satter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk met in Washington on Friday with two top White House officials to discuss how the automaker and Democratic President Joe Biden could work together to advance production of electric vehicles and accelerate the electrification of US vehicle networks.
Musk met with John Podesta, a staunch Democrat who serves as Biden’s top adviser on clean energy innovation, and Mitch Landrieu, who oversees infrastructure spending, the White House said. The billionaire and Biden have often been at odds over political and labor issues.
“John Podesta and Mitch Landrieu met with Elon Musk to discuss shared goals around electrification and how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act can advance electric vehicle production and charging, as well as the broader cause of electrification,” a White House spokesman told Reuters.
Musk responded on Twitter to Reuters’ exclusive initial report that he met with officials, saying it was “true.”
Later, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the meeting took place, adding that Musk did not meet with Biden personally. The meeting demonstrates Biden’s commitment to electric vehicles and the importance he places on infrastructure and inflation-reducing laws passed last year, she said.
“I think it’s important that his (Biden’s) team and core members of his team met with Elon Musk today to do just that.”
A Reuters witness on Friday saw Podesta, Landrieu and Musk enter a downtown building that houses both Tesla’s (NASDAQ:) Washington lobbying operation and the Center for American Progress, a think tank founded by Podesta. Landrieu and Podesta left about a half hour later and did not answer questions.
Musk left about 45 minutes after Podesta and Landrieu. He also ignored questions from a Reuters reporter.
Musk also met Friday with Republican Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan, chairmen of the House oversight and judiciary committees. On Thursday, he met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and briefly greeted House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
BIDEN, MUSK TENSIONS
Relations have often seemed antagonistic between Biden, who has pushed for companies to use union labor, and Musk, who has pushed to keep unions out of their factories.
Musk called Biden “a human-shaped wet sock puppet” last year after Biden highlighted electric vehicle production by GM and Ford in a tweet but left out Tesla.
Biden only publicly acknowledged Tesla’s role in making electric vehicles in the US more than a year after taking office, after Musk repeatedly complained that he was being ignored.
In June, Biden unfavorably compared Tesla to Ford and sarcastically wished Musk “the best of luck” on his “trip to the moon” after the billionaire expressed reservations about the economy.
Still, Musk has important, long-standing relationships with the US government, and those have continued under the Biden administration.
Tesla has benefited from tax subsidies given to buyers of its electric vehicles, while Musk’s rocket company SpaceX has contracts worth billions of dollars to fly astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station. , and to build a lunar lander.
US consumers who bought Teslas became eligible again this month for up to $7,500 in consumer tax credits, under the $430 billion US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed last August . A previous tax credit for Tesla buyers expired after the automaker sold its first 200,000 vehicles in the United States.
The law imposes requirements that electric vehicles that receive the tax credits must be manufactured in North America. There are also caps on vehicle prices and income for buyers who are eligible for the credits.
The law also establishes new battery supply restrictions that are expected to take effect in March. It also includes new US battery production credits that Musk said earlier this week could have significant benefits for the company.