Musk meets with Biden officials on electric vehicles

Tesla and Twitter magnate Elon Musk met Friday with White House officials to discuss electrification and electric vehicles.

Musk sat down with Mitch Landrieu and John Podesta, who are in charge of the implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Democrats’ 2022 climate, tax and health care law, respectively.

They met “to discuss electrification and how the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act can advance [electric vehicles],” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

The two pieces of Democratic legislation both include provisions that pertain to electric vehicles, as the infrastructure bill provides funds for a network of chargers, while the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes consumer electric vehicle tax credits. 

The IRA expands the number of vehicles that can qualify for the credits, but it also puts stipulations on which vehicles are eligible, requiring battery components to be manufactured in North America and minerals to be mined in countries that have a free trade agreement. 

The provisions were championed by swing vote Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who argued that they are important for establishing energy security, but have met resistance from automakers who say they will make the credit more difficult to get, especially in the near-term.

The Biden administration broadly has favored policies that aim to promote electric vehicles as part of an effort to mitigate climate change and other pollution.

The country’s electricity mix is generally less carbon-intensive than fuel used in gas-powered cars, and as lower-carbon sources have an increasing presence on the grid, electricity is expected to contribute even less to global warming. 

Brett Samuels contributed.