Elon Musk's Tesla lobbies to cost petrol drivers extra in UK

Elon Musk's electrical automobile firm Tesla pressured the federal government to “pay more” petrol automobile drivers after the Labor Party gained the final election.

Tesla Chief Executive Musk has overtly waded into British politics on social media, predicting a “civil war” and criticizing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

But behind the scenes his firm was attempting to influence the brand new authorities to increase a coverage that may enhance his firm's earnings.

The firm referred to as for an extension to lorries to spice up electrical automobile gross sales and stated electrical automobile (EV) subsidies may come from charging individuals who purchase petrol and diesel vehicles.

“The government should ask those who still want to buy new polluting vehicles to pay more,” Tesla's European boss Joe Ward wrote in a letter addressed to Roads Minister Lillian Greenwood in July.

This letter has been launched underneath a Freedom of Information request EV Newsletter The Fast ChargeShows that Tesla “appreciated the strong position of the Labor Party [on] Energy system decarbonisation, growth and net zero by 2030”.

The praise came weeks after Musk launched an online attack on the UK government over the summer riots.

The BBC reported in September that Musk was not invited to a government investment summit partly because of tensions over his political interference.

The billionaire has since become the indispensable right-hand man of incoming US President Donald Trump. The rising value of his stake in Tesla highlights the incredible rise in Musk's wealth since his election.

The UK government is currently consulting on changes to the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, a key measure to encourage the sale of electric cars.

The ZEV mandate requires car makers to sell a certain number of EVs per year, and if they don't meet their target, they must buy credits from other EV makers who sold more less polluting vehicles. Are.

UK carmakers are pushing to weaken the policy, arguing that customers are still not buying EVs in sufficient numbers.

Tesla's letter advocated the opposite policy, saying that the ZEV mandate “must be protected and strengthened”.

Tesla stands to be a major beneficiary of the ZEV mandate as it can sell surplus credits from imports of its own EVs made in China.

Tesla also lobbied the new UK government to take the lead on “autonomous automobiles at scale”, and provided an illustration of the businesses' strategy.