After a long dispute between the White House and Tesla founder Elon Musk, President Biden finally mentions Tesla in a speech.
Biden said in a news conference, “Since 2021, companies have announced investments totaling more than $200 billion in domestic manufacturing here in America. From iconic companies like GM and Ford building out new electric-vehicle production to Tesla, our nation’s largest electric-vehicle manufacturer, to innovative, younger companies like Rivian building electric trucks or Proterra building electric buses.”
This is the first time Biden has publicly addressed Tesla and acknowledged that Tesla is America’s largest producer of electric vehicles. Previously, the issue had boiled over in late January after Biden tweeted that GM and Ford are building more electric cars in the U.S. than ever before. He also praised GM for its leadership role in the electric vehicle landscape.
Elon Musk reacted to this in a very mocking way and called Biden a “damp sock puppet in human form”. He also gave him a lesson on how to spell the word, Tesla.
Musk has every reason to be upset, too, because Tesla’s numbers speak for themselves.
Electric car sales in the U.S. 2021:
Ford: 27,000
GM: 25.000
Tesla: 361.000
This past month, a petition was started to get Biden to say “Tesla.” It also calls for him to include the company in his push for electric vehicle manufacturing across the country. The petition has since received nearly 59,000 signatures.