‘Insane’: Musk Rips Newsom After California EV Customer Rebate Might Exclude Tesla

 Tesla CEO Elon Musk ripped into California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom after Newsom proposed a move that would shut out Tesla from customer rebates offered to other electric car manufacturers.

On Monday, Newsom announced that if President-elect Donald Trump eliminates a federal ZEV tax credit, Newsom would propose creating a new version of California’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which expired in 2023. Newsom’s “office told Bloomberg News that the current proposal includes market-share limitations that would exclude Tesla’s popular EV models,” Bloomberg News reported, adding that Newsom’s office stated, “It’s about creating the market conditions for more of these car makers to take root.”

“This is a slap in Tesla’s face,” Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, commented.

“Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,” Musk blasted on X.

“Tesla’s models do qualify for the federal credit, which was introduced as part of President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act,” Fortune noted.

 

In May 2020, Musk threatened to leave California after shelter-in-place orders forced him to shut down his sole car factory in the United States. In mid-May 2020, he indicated how fed up he was with California’s leftist governance, apparently urging followers on Twitter to join the conservatives of America, as he famously tweeted, “Take the red pill.”

In December 2020, Musk revealed he had left California and moved to Texas. Musk’s move came after months of openly criticizing California’s response to the COVID pandemic. At the end of April 2020, speaking on a Tesla earnings call, Musk ramped up his rhetoric about shelter-in-place orders around the nation, calling them “fascist.” Musk stated, according to The Verge:

We are a bit worried about not being able to resume production in the Bay Area, and that should be identified as a serious risk. The expansion of shelter-in-place, or as we call it, forcibly imprisoning people in their homes, against all their constitutional rights, is, in my opinion, breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong, and not why people came to America and built this country. What the f***!

He continued: “If somebody wants to stay in the house that’s great. They should be allowed to stay in the house and they should not be compelled to leave. But to say that they cannot leave their house and they will be arrested if they do… this is fascist. This is not democratic. This is not freedom. Give people back their godd**n freedom … Everything people have worked for all their lives is being destroyed in real time. I think the people are going to be very angry about this and are very angry.”

In July 2024, Musk pronounced that Newsom’s “career is over.” In mid-July, Newsom signed into law AB 1955, which barred school districts from alerting parents of their children’s sexuality or if they used pronouns or had adopted gender identities that conflicted with those on their school records. Musk recalled that he had warned Newsom  in 2023 that if the law were passed, it would force families and companies to leave California “to protect their children.”

Musk announced that he would relocate his companies out of the so-called Golden State in response to the passing of AB 1955, tweeting, “This is the final straw. Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”

He added, “And X HQ will move to Austin. …Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building.”

Newsom then mocked Musk, claiming he “bent the knee” to then GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump with his support.

That prompted author and journalist Michael Shellenberger, a foe of the environmental movement who also challenged Newsom in two gubernatorial elections, to fire, “You took the most beautiful state and made it the ugliest. You increased homelessness by 40%. You let addicts die on the street. You unleashed violent crime. Now you’re trying to medically mistreat children. You’re the worst governor in our state’s history. Resign.”