Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday that his company would likely benefit over time if the Inflation Reduction Act was overturned during a second Trump administration.
A repeal of the climate law would hurt Tesla “slightly,” Musk said during the company’s second quarter earnings call. But in the “long term, it probably actually helps.”
Like many other electric vehicle makers, Tesla has benefited from IRA tax credits. A rollback of the law thus would “have some impact” on the company, Musk said, but it would be “devastating for our competitors.” Many of Tesla’s competitors are newer startups or traditional automakers that are not as well established in the electric vehicle sector.
Musk’s comments came as the company reported that its income fell 45 percent compared with a year ago. For the first half of the year, Tesla has sold about 831,000 vehicles worldwide, far short of the more than 1.8 million for the year that Musk had predicted earlier. The company said it would unveil its self-driving robotaxi known as the Cybercab in October.
