With the election of Donald Trump as the next to take the seat as the President of the United States, there are fears that he could take away zero-emission vehicle credits. These are basically incentives to help both customers and manufacturers to push for the wider adoption of electric vehicles. If removed, many believe that it would be hard to justify getting an EV or making them. According to Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, his company doesn’t have anything to fear if this ends up being the case.
Musk says that Tesla will actually become more competitive if Trump decides to have the ZEV credit removed, Business Insider reports. The billionaire made this pronouncement during a Q&A session held Thursday last week. He also notes how fundamentally wrong it was to assume that the removal of the ZEV credit would hurt Tesla, in the first place.
This misconception stems from the fact that ZEV credits are a lucrative source of money for Tesla because of how the law is constructed. Companies that don’t earn enough ZEV credits will be facing fines. Earning these credits is usually done by selling a certain number of EVs, but it can also be bought from other companies that have already earned a lot of these credits. Since Tesla sells only EVs, it has plenty of ZEV credits to spare.
Unfortunately, the law actually makes it really easy to earn these credits, which then makes it hard for companies like Tesla to make much money out of it. Musk actually went on a tirade during a Q2 earnings conference about the disadvantages that the ZEV credit system comes with for Tesla.
According to Musk, other major auto companies have more to gain with the credit system than does Tesla because it doesn’t scale, Gizmodo reports. Then again, he also doesn’t advocate for the elimination of the ZEV credit. Rather, Musk simply wants refinements to the law to make it more advantageous to sell more EVs on a large scale rather than simply trying to duck a fine.


Apple Earnings Beat Expectations as iPhone Sales Surge to Four-Year High
Elon Musk’s Empire: SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI Merger Talks Spark Investor Debate
Samsung Electronics Posts Record Q4 2025 Profit as AI Chip Demand Soars
Microsoft AI Spending Surge Sparks Investor Jitters Despite Solid Azure Growth
Pentagon and Anthropic Clash Over AI Safeguards in National Security Use
Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Approval of AI Chatbots Allowing Sexual Interactions With Minors
Nvidia Confirms Major OpenAI Investment Amid AI Funding Race
SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval for Massive Solar-Powered Satellite Network to Support AI Data Centers
Nvidia’s $100 Billion OpenAI Investment Faces Internal Doubts, Report Says
SoftBank Shares Surge as It Eyes Up to $30 Billion New Investment in OpenAI
SpaceX Updates Starlink Privacy Policy to Allow AI Training as xAI Merger Talks and IPO Loom
US Judge Rejects $2.36B Penalty Bid Against Google in Privacy Data Case
NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Amazon Eye Massive OpenAI Investment Amid $100B Funding Push
Advantest Shares Hit Record High on Strong AI-Driven Earnings and Nvidia Demand




