Why do Biden and Musk both promote electric vehicles but "don't want to see" each other?

According to CNN website reported on the 4th, as we all know, Biden has been vigorously supporting the development of electric vehicles in the United States after taking office, and he hopes that by 2030, half of the new cars sold in the United States will be electric vehicles. He also proposed a range of incentives to help achieve this goal, including tax credits for buyers and government support for charging stations. Tesla is an American company and by far the world's largest electric car manufacturer. But Biden's tendency is also obvious, seemingly completely ignoring Tesla's status as a brother in electric vehicles in the United States, and never mentioning the achievements of Musk and Tesla in EV. At the same time, Musk has never been stingy in attacking Biden.

So the question arises as to why Biden has been almost silent about Tesla when it comes to promoting the benefits of electric cars. The reason can be summed up in three letters: UAW (National Automobile Workers' Federation).

The Confederation of Auto Workers is generally concerned about the impact the industry-wide shift to electric vehicles will have on the jobs of its members because electric vehicles have far fewer moving parts and much less labor required for assembly. Ford estimates that the labor required to produce an electric car is about 30 percent less than the production of a conventional car.

Most of the value of electric vehicles comes from battery packs. So far, unionized automakers have set up joint ventures to build battery factories, rather than in their own factories. It's unclear whether these battery factories will eventually form unions.

But so far, UAW has expressed support for their pro-union ally Biden's efforts on electric vehicles. Last August, UAW Chairman Ray Curry joined CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Strantis at the Electric Vehicle Summit at the White House, but Musk was not invited. This made Musk very depressed, and he also said on social media that it was too strange.

In response to Tesla's failure to invite to the Electric Vehicle Summit at the White House, White House press secretary Psaki said the main reason was because Tesla did not have close ties with unions. If Biden is seen as a cheerleader for non-union automakers like Tesla, it will be much harder to get his allies in the UAW to support a shift to electric cars.

Musk and UAW

Tesla still insists on not joining the UAW, while Musk opposes hiring organized labor, which the National Labor Relations Board has ruled on several occasions. The National Automobile Workers' Union has made little progress in its efforts to form unions at Tesla, and Musk has repeatedly mocked the federation and its supporters.

Last November, he tweeted that UAW's new slogan was "Fight for their right to steal money from workers!" Last October, he said the relationship between UAW and Biden was the main reason Tesla didn't get any support from the government that originally supported electric cars. Musk tweeted: "Biden is a marionette of the UAW. ”

Musk and Biden's electric car plans

The U.S. government is adopting various measures to encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles. But Tesla will benefit less from these subsidies than other electric car makers. Musk has said he does not support the projects.

At the beginning of this year, Biden held an EV conference at the White House again, or only invited the bosses of GM and Ford, and did not invite Musk to attend.

Biden also had a tweet on his official account showing the president's meeting with GM CEO Mary Barra, quoting him as saying, "I said the future would be created in America, and I was serious." Companies like GM and Ford are producing more electric cars in the U.S. than ever before. Although Ford and GM only produce a fraction of tesla's electric cars in California, Biden made the announcement. When Musk replied to the relevant comments of netizens on Twitter, he directly said that "Biden treats the American people as fools."

A White House official said Musk did not attend the meeting not because Tesla did not join the union, but because of his lack of support for the electric vehicle provisions in the "Rebuild the Beautiful" bill.

Asked about Biden's apparent lack of mention of Tesla when talking about electric vehicles, the official said, "Tesla has done extraordinary things when it comes to electric vehicles, which is a big part of why the entire industry now knows that electric vehicles are the future." Tesla has also benefited a lot from past EV tax credits, but unfortunately, their CEO has expressed opposition to the new EV tax credits. ”

The White House has not shied away from the issue of unions. "We will continue to fight for legislation to expand access to electric vehicles and create high-quality jobs," the official said. President Biden, who is focused on creating good union jobs across the United States, is a strong believer that every worker in every state must have the freedom and fair choice to join a union and have the right to bargain collectively with employers. ”

There are other reasons why Musk doesn't like Biden

What makes Musk angry about the Biden administration is not just the disagreement over electric vehicle incentives. He also made clear that he opposed the Biden administration's proposal to raise taxes on America's wealthiest Americans and to establish a minimum tax rate for profitable American companies like Tesla. Because of past losses, Tesla barely pays federal income tax.

Musk is paying a record $11 billion in taxes in 2021 as he will exercise tens of billions of dollars worth of stock options that would otherwise expire. But in other years, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of his assets, his declared income is close to zero, and he barely has to pay personal income tax.

He has made it clear that he opposes the Reform Proposal proposed by democrats, though he has turned most of his fire on the issue at Democratic senators such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden, who have proposed a tax on the wealth of the richest people in the United States, not just their income.

Musk also made it clear that he questioned the government's orders aimed at fighting COVID-19, calling stay-at-home orders in the early days of the pandemic "fascist" and sometimes questioning the health risks posed by the coronavirus. While Biden has made clear he wants to avoid orders to return to the home lockdown, he has been advocating for the administration to develop rules and actions aimed at fighting the pandemic.

Upstream News Compiled by Ruochen Yang