1 month ago
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Tesla secretly called on the UK government to bill petrol and diesel new-car buyers more – to fund rebates for electric vehicles – a document has revealed.
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A secret document now public has revealed Tesla lobbied the UK government to increase taxes on new petrol- and diesel-powered cars to help pay for rebates on electric cars.
It is despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk calling a week later for all rebates on electric-car sales and "all industries" to be scrapped, claiming it will benefit – not hurt – sales of the company's cars.
The letter – signed by Tesla's European chief, and sent to the UK's Minister for the Future of Roads after the UK election on 8 July 2024 – was obtained by The Fast Charge newsletter through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
Tesla "applaud[s]" the new government's carbon emission reduction policies, the letter reads, but it calls for further action and strengthening of the UK's electric-vehicle mandates.
These plans currently require 22 per cent of new-car sales in the UK to be zero emission this year – a target the market is set to miss, with brands to be fined £15,000 ($AU30,000) for every vehicle sold beyond the mandate.
"Purchase incentives have been discussed at great length publicly, if Treasury were to consider any schemes, these should be revenue neutral," Vice President of Tesla EMEA, believed to be Joe Ward, said in the letter.
"Given new fossil-fueled vehicles lock in high emissions and a price needs to be placed on this. The Government should ask those still choosing to purchase a new polluting vehicle, to pay more.
"This could create a revenue neutral model to support ZEV [zero-emissions vehicle] uptake."
It is a vast difference in opinion to company CEO Elon Musk, who said on X (formerly Twitter) eight days after the letter was sent that the US Government should "take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla."
Musk has also been critical of the new UK government, claiming the country is going "full Stalin", dubbing the UK "a tyrannical police state", and has shared a petition calling for a a fresh election.
The letter also recommends changes to the UK's company car tax scheme to help electric vehicles and introduce increases at "higher increments" for petrol and diesel-powered vehicles, as well as electric sales mandates for heavy trucks.
It also offers a demonstration of Tesla's autonomous driving technology, which in recent months has been preparing to expand beyond the US into Europe and China.
Tesla global sales are down 2.3 per cent compared to last year, amid a cooling in demand for battery-powered vehicles, and a lack of many new high-volume models.
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
