Biden says China is ahead of Tesla with EV production, angering Elon Musk

Tesla boss has complained for months about lack of White House recognition

Elon Musk fired back at Joe Biden as he complained about slow EV manufacturing in the United States.

Their latest spat came after the president finally mentioned the entrepreneur’s electric vehicle company by name for the first time during remarks on American companies expanding EV infrastructure across the country.

After he name-checked Tesla, Mr Biden took to Twitter, where he said that the US has been behind Beijing in developing EVs, which apparently irked Mr Musk.

“China has been leading the electric vehicle race, but that’s about to change. We’re building a convenient, reliable, equitable national public charging network,” Mr Biden tweeted.

“It’ll make America more economically competitive and help us tackle the climate crisis at the same time.”

Mr Musk replied with a link to an article on an EV website site about the world’s top electric car companies and a caption that simply read, “Tesla.”

The White House’s recognition of Tesla, which is worth almost $1 trillion, comes after Mr Musk spent months criticising and insulting the president over it.

Elon Musk (REUTERS)

“Since 2021, companies have announced investments totaling more than $200 billion in domestic manufacturing here in America,” said Mr Biden.

“From iconic companies like GM and Ford, building out new electric vehicle production (facilities), to Tesla, our nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, to innovative, younger companies like Rivian, building electric trucks, or ProTerra, building electric buses.”

More than 58,000 people had signed a petition at change.org, asking the president to acknowledge Tesla’s EV leadership.

White House aides have said he has ignored Tesla, a non-unionized company, in favor of recognizing legacy Detroit automakers, such as Ford and GM, which recognise unions.