Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is the latest billionaire to join President-elect Donald Trump’s economic-advisory board.
Musk, who has relied heavily on government subsidies for his business ventures, worked closely with the Obama administration to further the government’s green-energy policies. In fact, the Obama administration gave SolarCity, a company that Musk is chairman of, a federal tax credit valued at 30 percent of the cost of each solar system. And for each Tesla electric car sold, buyers receive a $7,500 federal tax credit.
In July 2016, 50 organizations — including Tesla — signed onto one of the Obama administration’s ambitious goals: “accelerating the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and putting more electronic vehicles on the road.” Tesla pledged to deliver the Model 3, a more affordable electric vehicle, in late 2017; the company’s $5 billion Gigafactory has already begun manufacturing affordable batteries.
