Last week, Tesla North reported on a Change.org petition urging U.S. President Joe Biden to “acknowledge Tesla’s EV leadership.” In the three days since, the petition has surpassed 40,000 signatures.
After the White House failed to invite Tesla CEO Elon Musk to a meeting with auto industry CEOs and other business leaders last week, a petition was started to get President Biden to give credit where credit is due.
Following the meeting, Biden shared a video on social media where he stood beside General Motors CEO Mary Barra and heralded the legacy carmaker as a leader in domestic electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.
This was not the first time President Biden snubbed the EV pioneer — his Build Back Better plan locks Tesla out of the full $12,500 USD in tax credit offered for EV purchases, and he has repeatedly refrained from acknowledging Tesla’s contributions and efforts in the EV space.
“The White House and the Biden Administration have intentionally been trying to ignore Tesla’s hard work while propping up GM and others as ‘EV Leaders,'” says the petition. “This is an insult to the Americans who work for Tesla.”
Tesla delivered a record 936,222 electric cars last year, up 87% from 2020. While both General Motors and Ford are accelerating EV efforts, neither even comes close to matching Tesla’s current production capacity.
At the time of writing, the petition has been signed by 40,013 people (and counting). It’s unclear if President Biden will ever respond and acknowledge Elon Musk and company.
