Trump wants to abolish the electric car subsidy - and Musk thinks that's good

After the election of Republican Donald Trump as US President, he and his team are apparently considering eliminating the generous $7,500 electric vehicle subsidy. This was reported by Reuters. What at first glance seemed like a disadvantage to the electric car entrepreneur and new efficiency advisor of the new administration, is surprisingly even welcomed by Musk, with Tesla as the market leader in electric cars in the USA. His calculation: While the elimination of the subsidy would harm Tesla a little, it would "destroy" the competition, as he explained to investors in the summer. Tesla has a significantly higher profit margin on each vehicle compared to the "Western" competition, which, besides Europeans, would also include Koreans and Japanese. 

Recently, the electric vehicle market in the USA has stagnated and is not growing as hoped. Only nine percent of all vehicles sold in the States are electric, half the number in Germany. Ford, as recently in Cologne, is also taking drastic measures overseas and is shutting down one of the plants in Michigan for several weeks because sales of the all-electric F150 Lightning pickup are weak. Recently, according to a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, 5,000 US auto dealers appealed to President Joe Biden to slow down e-mobility because demand is too low. They cite the moderately expanded charging infrastructure nationwide. Here, too, Musk would have an advantage over the competition with his Supercharger network, which, as recently with Mercedes-Benz and competitors, still needs to be built.